IMA Dairy & Food, whose equipment solutions comprise the long-established brands Gasti, Hamba, Hassia and Erca, has introduced two new packaging machines. The first is a fill-seal unit featuring highly flexible, user-friendly operations, the second a four-sided sachet machine incorporating novel single-sided production.

First, Erca has expanded its machine portfolio to include fill-seal machines for pre-formed cups. Erca’s new EFS-L, features a format-flexible indexing platform for which available options, ease of operation and maintenance procedures have all been enhanced. Modular in design with stainless steel construction and servo-operations, the EFS-L offers versatility in filling, pre-fill and post-fill operations for both wet and dry ingredients. Chainless cup transportation enables format flexibility and precision index positioning throughout the machine.

Besides its quick release, tool-free format flexibility, other benefits of the EFS-L include a chainless drive (no chain stretch, no regular adjustment, less cup cassettes), modular design for recipe functionality and multifill options (overtrack or remote fillers), and improved hygiene options (UVC, Pulse light, H2O2). The machine is available in clean and ultra-clean hygiene levels.

Capable of filling cups up to 130 mm in diameter, the EFS-L is suitable for a broad variety of products including yoghurt, fresh cheese, white cheese (curd), cottage cheese, single and multilayer desserts, mousse, salads, dips, dressings, hot filled sauces, soups, jams, fruit purees, tomato paste, sweet spread, baby food and pet food.

FFS machine for single-roll sachet production Hassia’s F600 form-fill-seal machine produces four-sided sealed sachets at a pace of up to 80 cycles/minute on as many as 16 lanes. The unit runs a single wide roll located at floor level for easy changeover and front-and-back sachet registration – an option offering more printing choices than traditional two-roll machines. The F600 can handle rolls as wide as 1.200 mm with a diameter of 800 mm, and can yield up to 16 hours of run time between roll changes; the result is significantly reduced downtime and boosted productivity.

The F600’s careful product handling places a premium on quality assurance, and its CIP and SIP-suitable dosing units can be adjusted per specific product requirements. Exemplary filling accuracy and hygiene standards are assured, and the hermetic pack seal produced by the F600 is secure yet easy to open for consumer convenience.

The F600 is also flexible: A range of pack designs are possible, and sizes can be configured to align with production capacity. The machine’s control concepts are highly versatile and include opportunities for integration with customer-specific systems. The unit can handle all common packaging materials suitable for heat-sealing.