Leaders stays in front with new packaging line

Auckland-based frozen convenience foods manufacturer Leader Products has experienced continuous strong growth in its packed range of IQF (individually quick frozen) products. Finding that its existing weigher and bagger couldn’t keep up with the increased demand, Leader contacted John Redai from Reactive Engineering for a solution.

L-R: Ivo Guekes (GKS Packaging), Simon Graham, Robert Keen and Tony Peterson (Leader Products), and John Redai (Reactive Engineering).

Based on the expansion of production capacity and the company’s future plans, Reactive proposed a new set-up for the packaging line: changing the current multihead weigher for a Multiweigh 14-head weigher and replacing the existing bagger with GKS Packaging’s FLOW FL350 bag maker.

The machines were installed in October 2012 and the line was optimised and set up for all of the company’s products, which are packed in transparent and pre-printed films.

The Multiweigh weigher and FLOW bag maker.

With the FLOW bag maker, Leader is now able to pack at speeds of 50-60 bags/min in LDPE films - three to four times the capacity of the old line.

The key factor in choosing the FLOW, besides its capacity and robust build, is the washdown capability of the machine. FLOW has a clean design and IP67 rating throughout the machine, significantly reducing cleaning time.

The FLOW bag maker is easy to clean.

According to Leader, the packaging area is now no longer a cause of concern, allowing the company to focus completely on optimising and expanding the processing side of the factory.