Acheiving long term sustainable growth, reduce plastic packaging and maximise outputs in the fish and seafood sector
Our resident expert on packaging in the fish and seafood sector, Matt Delaney, Sales Engineer, shared with us his experience of tray sealing and skinpac in this sector.
Matt joined Packaging Automation over 23 years ago and as Sales Engineer for the North of England and Scotland has built up extensive knowledge of the fish and seafood sector, supporting customers to achieve long term sustainable growth, reduce plastic packaging and maximise outputs.
Matt talks to us about packaging in the fish and seafood sector.
Q. What type of customers do you tend to work with in the fish and seafood sector?
As you can imagine, over 23 years I have worked with lots of different companies in this sector including fresh seafood and fish, frozen products, salmon and cod fillets, smoked salmon, prawns, lobster tails, calamari and just about anything else you can think of!
Q. And what types of challenges do these businesses face with packaging?
To be honest no two businesses are the same which makes life interesting.
There are lots of different challenges we have helped with, anything from developing and moving to a new site , planning for business growth, introducing new products, improving business efficiencies, packaging mis-shaped products, reducing packhouse downtime, improving machine reliability and dealing with new requests from retailers.
Q. And how do you help these customers?
There are a few things that we can do to help and usually this starts with our Trial Facility.
Simon and the team in the test kitchen are happy to work with customers to advise and guide them on the best packaging options for their products, often producing samples for the customer to present to retailers. With a vast array of contacts for film and tray suppliers, the team are ahead of the game with all of the latest developments in packaging and can share ideas with our customers, trialling and testing wherever necessary.
At PA we are big on new technology and use it to maximum effect. Our dedicated Virtual Reality environment provides a user-centered, first-person perspective that enables our customers to see a new processing and packing line modelled into their factory before it is even manufactured.
The technology we use allows customers to remove or reposition elements of the line and visualise how this changes the process, and the way operators interact with it.
Our customers really value the expertise our team have, and we are happy to share our knowledge whether it is advising on the best machine, running trials or setting up a demo using our virtual reality technology.
Q. What is the popular solution currently for the fish and seafood sector?
The thing about PA Machines is that they are easy and simple to set up, really, it’s a simple plug and play approach. They also give flexibility as they can seal many different materials including film, board, foil and plastic lined board. The ability to run SkinPac but also MAP and atmospheric on the same machine with no tool changeover is such a bonus.
Customers also really value the energy efficient nature of PA machines which incorporate PowerDrive technology and the patented low energy consumption seal station.
In my opinion, there are a few key features that set PA machines apart from others:
· No compressed air required
· No booster pump needed
· Energy efficient
· No water cooling of tools required
· Can skin many different materials
· Up to 25 cycles per minute
Customers not only get a fast machine to help achieve maximum outputs and efficiencies but our Skinpac solution far exceeds others in the market regularly achieving 9-10 cycles per minute whilst maintaining pack and seal integrity and all with excellent pack presentation.
I really believe that we have the fastest machines with the highest output and the smallest footprint! And they are so easy to operate too.
To find out more about our meat, fish and seafood solutions, please contact Matt on 07515 999350