ROVEMA SBS Flexible Bagger

ROVEMA’s SBS vertical form-fill-seal machine was originally designed in the 1970s and consisted of two parts — a vertical bagger and coupled horizontal bag-top closer. The units were used throughout Australia in the 70s and 80s mostly for packing coffee into block bottom bags that required a tin-tie (folded metal strip) closure.

Fast forward to the 1990s, the SBS (as it’s now called) made its debut at Interpack, Germany, as a high-speed, form-fill-seal bagging machine capable of all the functions of a standard vertical FFS machine, with the added flexibility of not just one, but a variety of top closures.

The versatility of the SBS has been well proven, and today there are over 700 SBS machines installed in manufacturing plants worldwide. There are several installations locally in Australia and New Zealand, and soon into Papua New Guinea, for packaging loose-filled products such as dried fruits, sugar, pasta, coffee and flour.

The machine can also handle delicate products such as biscuits and pastries using a technique with minimal drop height or dedicated product stacking and inserting, all whilst maintaining product integrity.

Available in single- and twin-tube formats, the machine has a selection of more than 40 different styles of top closures. With versatility in bag format, it can package up to 160 bags/min.

ROVEMA has also invested in research and development to ensure its bagging machines keep up with the new packaging designs and formats. It works closely with packaging film suppliers to ensure sustainable packaging films can be used on all its equipment without any loss of performance.

For example, kraft paper is one material that offers basic tear prevention and insect protection. Coated with a thin water-soluble sealing emulsion, it offers a slight water-vapour barrier and a similar product shelf-life to traditional packaging films, yet is suitable for paper recycling. For products that have a higher moisture content, fats and oils, such as chocolates and pastry, Rovema has tested kraft paper films with seal coatings of 70 g and proved that they perform as well as traditional laminated films. Kraft paper film containing less than 5% additives are suitable for paper recycling collection. Over 250 different sustainable films have been tested.

ROVEMA GmbH is based in Germany and has been designing and manufacturing machines for over 60 years. For 47 of those years, JL Lennard has been the local Rovema agent partnering with customers in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and PNG, for their packaging projects, managing supply, installation and training as well as post-installation service and ongoing technical support.