Total Bag Control From Pacepacker

For many wholesalers, one of the highest margin activities is buying in bulk sacks of anything from confectionery products to pulses, flour and breakfast cereal, and repacking them into smaller bags for resale to retail customers.

While repacking can be carried out manually, a growing number of wholesalers are opting to automate the process, as this reduces reliance on manual labour, minimises the health and safety risk, results in a more consistent product and boosts productivity. One such example is cash & carry operator Bestway, where one tonne bags of rice are repacked into smaller paper sacks.

As noted by Paul Wilkinson, Business Development Manager at Pacepacker Services, a specialist in turnkey automatic packing systems, efficiencies gained through automation may be cancelled out if product is wasted - either due to spillages or contamination - and such wastage is not uncommon.

“On many systems installed at wholesale operations, bags are filled whilst on a sack clamp, then dropped onto a moving conveyor and transported to a stitcher. All this time, the mouth of the bag is wide open and the bag is completely unsupported. This not only can result in sacks falling over and spilling, but means that anything from a nut or bolt to an insect could fall in and contaminate the product.”

Pacepacker’s Total Bag Control (TBC) system addresses both of these issues, making it an increasingly popular choice among wholesalers looking to automate their repacking operations.

Designed to handle paper, plastic, woven polypropylene, hessian and even nets, the TBC supports and guides bags throughout the closing process, presents sacks to the stitcher/sealer with precision that eliminates seal integrity issues and accurately seals even the most difficult-to-handle sacks to create consistently premium looking packs.

“The single most important principle of the TBC system is that it never lets go of the sack after it has been filled,” says Paul Wilkinson. “The second the sack is filled, a pair of motorised grip arms move around the bag and as it drops from the clamp, they close on the top of the bag, holding it in its formed state. The bag is then held shut as it is transported to the sealing device - usually either a stitcher or heat sealer – so at no point is there an opportunity for anything to drop into the sack. And because the sack is supported throughout the closing process, there’s no risk of it toppling over and the contents spilling.”

The TBC closes up to 14 bags per minute, can handle a range of bag sizes from 2 to 50kg and runs independently or in conjunction with sack placers, most gross and nett weighing systems, and palletising systems also supplied by Pacepacker.