Canada’s healthy snacks producer Riverside Natural Foods installs two tna robag FX 3ci vertical form, fill and seal packaging systems for its 24 g snack packs.
The machines fulfilled the snack maker’s requirement of high speed packaging, hygienic design and easy to clean.
The chosen tna robag FX 3ci has rotary double jaws that deliver the company’s target speeds of 150 bags per minute, doubling the performance of the previous equipment and transforming Riverside’s production line efficiencies.
With a small footprint, the tna robag incorporates tna’s intelli-weigh 0314 omega series of high-speed multi-head scales.
Capable of up to 200 weighs per minute, the tna intelli-weigh 0314 omega offers high accuracy, reducing product losses and further improving the overall performance of the entire system.
A clearly printed and accurate date code is vital to communicate the freshness of a product, meet regulatory requirements and avoid waste through rejected bags.
However, operating at high speeds can result in extremely high and rapid changes of film speeds, which in turn can affect the ability of some date coders to print a clear code.
Using tna’s film path adjustment system, Riverside can accurately adjust and control the film path position so that printing takes place at a point where the film’s velocity is within the date coder’s printing capability.
As a result, Riverside is able to continuously achieve a clear and accurate date code print – even at 150 bags per minute.
Riverside’s granola minis are packed with wholesome, certified organic ingredients, including a multitude of fine, particulate materials such as seeds, flakes and grains.
To prevent fines from affecting the seal integrity of the bags, tna installed cross feeders with integrated sifter to remove small particles from the line before the product reaches the bag.
In addition, tna’s product in seal detection technology automatically triggers a reject mechanism if it detects product or particles in the seal area.
This means that Riverside is able to quickly remove bags from the line for further inspection before they enter the secondary packaging process.
That way, Riverside can ensure that every bag meets the company’s high quality standards, while keeping waste to an absolute minimum and reducing downtime for a more continuous production process.
