Pre-Made Pouches & Pouching Machines

Fresh Whole or Cut Fruits & Vegetables: Efficient Packaging Solutions by Matrix

August 2, 2023

In the fast-paced world of fresh cut fruits and vegetables, efficient and reliable packaging solutions are essential to ensure that these perishable goods reach consumers in optimal condition. Matrix, a leading provider of vertical form fill seal packaging equipment, has emerged as an industry expert with decades of experience, delivering top-notch machines that cater to the unique needs of the fresh produce and IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) industries. In this blog post, we will explore Matrix’s cutting-edge machinery and how it addresses the challenges faced by the fruit and vegetable industry.

The MVC-300 (Morpheus) Series: Unmatched Efficiency

Matrix’s MVC-300 (Morpheus) series stands out as a servo-driven continuous box motion bagger form fill seal system designed for maximum efficiency at all production levels. The Morpheus series is specifically tailored for the fresh cut fruits and vegetable industry, featuring reduced film seal times that optimize packaging processes. Additionally, the machine offers two types of state-of-the-art control systems, Allen-Bradley and Beckhoff, allowing users to choose the one that best suits their production floor’s needs. The Morpheus series’ versatility, precision, and user-friendly design make it an ideal choice for fruit and vegetable packagers.

Mercury: Durability and Speed

For those seeking a reliable and cost-effective solution, the Mercury vertical form fill seal machine from Matrix is an excellent option. This popular system is known for its low annual operating costs, high-speed performance, and maximum durability. The Mercury features advanced film movement capabilities, such as self-centering film drive down, automatic edge guide film tracking, and an angled incline film upwind system, ensuring precise packaging every time. Its tool-free quick-change core chucks enable fast changeover between different products, further enhancing its efficiency.

Elete Series: High Performance for Larger Bags

Matrix’s Elete series is specifically designed to cater to the fruit and vegetable industry’s unique requirements, offering quick changeover and setup, profitable speeds, and unparalleled precision. This high-performance configurable solution is particularly suitable for larger bags of fruits and vegetables. With running speeds of up to 130 bags per minute, the Elete uses Allen Bradley MicroLogix color touch screen controls and features an automatic web edge guide film tracking system and encoder registration sensor. Its adaptability and flexibility make it a preferred choice for packaging larger quantities of fresh produce.

Pacraft TT-8D-N: Versatile Pre-Made Pouch Machine

Recognizing that some customers prefer pre-made pouch machines for packaging fresh produce, Matrix offers the Pacraft TT-8D-N. This versatile machine is rated at up to 55 pouches per minute and is designed for stand-up, flat bottom, and five-panel style bags. The TT-8D-N comes with innovative touch screen controls, making it user-friendly for quick and efficient operation and maintenance. Its easy-to-clean wash-down design ensures sanitary operation, meeting the strict hygiene standards required in the fruit and vegetable industry.

In conclusion, the fruit and vegetable industry faces unique challenges in ensuring the precise and dependable packaging of fresh cut produce. Matrix’s range of vertical form fill seal packaging machines, including the MVC-300 (Morpheus) series, Mercury, Elete series, and Pacraft TT-8D-N, offer tailored solutions to meet the diverse needs of the industry. With decades of experience and a commitment to delivering high-quality, efficient, and easy-to-use machinery, Matrix remains at the forefront of providing packaging solutions for fresh whole or cut fruits and vegetables.

Be sure to stop by our booth at the 2024 Global Produce & Floral Show in Anaheim, CA October 19th-21st in booth #3411!

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Matrix provides flexible packaging machinery solutions to customers worldwide. Vertical form, fill, seal; horizontal form, fill, seal; pre-made pouches; stickpacks and sachets, Matrix can help you find your flexible packaging solution.

Matrix Packaging’s Pacraft Machinery Line: The Secret to Efficient and Cost-Effective Packaging

June 28, 2023

In today’s competitive business landscape, efficient and cost-effective packaging solutions are crucial for companies looking to stay ahead. Matrix Packaging, a leading supplier of packaging equipment, has been revolutionizing the industry with the Pacraft pre-made pouch packaging machinery line. In this video, Spencer Johnson shares his experience with Matrix Packaging, highlighting the features and benefits of this top-of-the-line equipment and how it can help businesses streamline their packaging processes.

Understanding Customer Needs

One of the key factors that sets Matrix Packaging apart is their commitment to understanding and meeting the unique requirements of their customers. Matrix works closely with clients, ensuring that we comprehend specific application needs and challenges. This customer-centric approach enables Matrix Packaging to provide tailored packaging solutions that deliver optimal results. By collaborating with businesses across various industries, Matrix Packaging has gained extensive knowledge and expertise, allowing us to develop innovative equipment that caters to diverse packaging needs.

Features and Benefits of the Pacraft Machinery Line

The Pacraft pre-made pouch packaging machinery line is a game-changer for companies seeking efficiency and cost-effectiveness. These machines are capable of reaching and maintaining high-speeds, enabling businesses to significantly increase their packaging output without compromising quality. This enhanced productivity translates into higher profitability and customer satisfaction.

Moreover, the Pacraft machinery line boasts user-friendly interfaces and intuitive controls, making it easy for operators to set up and operate the equipment efficiently. This reduces training time and minimizes the risk of errors, leading to improved overall productivity.

Another notable advantage is the versatility offered by the Pacraft machinery line. It accommodates a wide range of pouch sizes, materials, and product types, making it suitable for various industries and packaging requirements. This flexibility ensures that businesses can adapt quickly to changing market demands and expand their product offerings.

The Bottom Line: Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness

For businesses in search of a trusted packaging supplier, Matrix Packaging’s Pacraft machinery line is a must-watch. By investing in this top-of-the-line equipment, companies can achieve improved efficiency and cost-effectiveness in their packaging operations. The high-speed capabilities, ease of use, and versatility of the machinery line provide a winning combination that positively impacts the bottom line.

Matrix Packaging’s dedication to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction is evident through our tailored solutions and commitment to understanding individual needs. By partnering with Matrix Packaging, businesses can harness the power of advanced packaging technology and optimize their operations to stay ahead in today’s competitive market.

Join Spencer Johnson in the following video as he discusses how Matrix Packaging’s Pacraft machinery line can revolutionize your packaging processes, making them more efficient and cost-effective.

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Inside Matrix Packaging: A Discussion with Jason Beard Company Culture – {Video Transcript}

June 21, 2023

Matrix has been working hard since 1988 to provide industries worldwide with vertical form fill seal machines, made right here in the USA. The company also provides rotary pre-made pouch bagging equipment and stickpack and sachet form fill seal machines. In addition to high quality machinery, Matrix prides itself on helping companies in the manufacturing process.

Matrix is dedicated to helping customers each step of the way, including:

Choosing the right packaging machine for your application
Installation
Set up & Working the Innovative Machine

{Video Transcript}

Matrix Culture

The culture of Matrix is really what attracted me to come to the company. It’s a customer first organization so when we start talking about what separates Matrix, it really is the culture and the way that we partner with our customers and that really starts at the front end where you take a consultative approach to specifying your piece of equipment and that travels right through project management and into our ongoing service and support.

The Value of Matrix

The value of Matrix as an organization is there’s a lot of equipment manufacturers in the world and my advice to anybody that’s looking to buy a piece of packaging equipment, make sure you understand who you’re partnering with because this equipment lasts for a long time and you need to make sure the longevity of your partner is going to be there so you have the service and support to really be productive and maximize your packaging efficiencies.

Who is Matrix?

Matrix provides flexible packaging machinery solutions to customers worldwide. Vertical form, fill, seal; pre-made pouches; stickpacks and sachets, and large pouch formats. Matrix can help you find your flexible packaging solution.

Matrix is committed to providing our customers with superior vertical form fill seal packaging solutions and to fully meeting your needs. To meet these objectives we provide one of the most complete customer service programs available in the industry including the service personnel, parts and training necessary to keep your equipment running at peak efficiency.

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OEMs Develop Compatible Solutions for Green Petfood Packaging

April 20, 2023

COLLABORATION AND COMPATIBLE MACHINERY PAVE THE WAY FOR SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING

By Troy Snader, Sr. Vice President of Business Development, ProMach’s Secondary Packaging Group

The 2022 PetFood Forum tech talk “Compostable/Recyclable Materials and Machinery Compatibility – Choices and Options,” by Troy Snader, Senior Vice President of Business Development for ProMach’s Secondary Packaging Group.

Walk through any pet store and you will see just how popular organic dog and cat food has become. According to petkeen.com, a staggering $22.8 billion was spent on organic pet food in 2020 – a figure that is expected to increase more than 10% by 2026.

As pet owners are embracing greener, healthier meals for their pets, they are also looking for a similar level of greenness in their food’s packaging. During a tech talk at the 2022 Petfood Forum, participants asked important questions about choices and options to improve the compatibility of form, fill and seal machinery with compostable and recyclable petfood packaging materials:

How would you characterize the state of petfood packaging today?

It is no surprise that consumers are behind the drive for sustainable petfood packaging. People today are looking for healthier, holistic options for their pets, and they are willing to pay more for petfood that contains better ingredients. While there are numerous green and holistic choices when it comes to petfood, there is a substantial push underway to extend green attributes to petfood packaging as well. The key in responding to these market needs is to provide the industry with machinery and packaging materials that meet the sustainability standards petfood manufacturers and consumers are looking for.

How are packaging OEMs responding to this call for sustainable petfood packaging?

Most of the recycled materials we use today are comprised of oriented polyethylene or polypropylene thermoplastic polymers. These two types of materials are mono layer, which are comprised of a single main material. In contrast, many common flexible packaging styles on the market today use laminated films, such as metallic or metalized films like aluminum. These differences in films have posed a challenge to packaging machines in the past, but most current designs in vertical and horizontal form fill seal machines are allowing pet food manufacturers to run these films using existing heat-sealing mechanisms, bars, cartridges, thermal couples, and other components.

What needs to be considered when running recycled or compostable materials?

While strong advances have been made, running recycled or compostable materials at high speeds on vertical and horizontal form fill seal machines can still be difficult, and remains a work in progress for some manufacturers. For example, oriented polyethylene has narrow (and lower) temperature sealing parameters compared to laminated film. What this means is that the optimal temperature window needed to create the seal on polyethylene film is limited, which slows production. By contrast, there is a 40-to-50-degree window to create the seals when running laminates – and a larger available window means faster production.

Why are stretch properties an important consideration for packaging films?

Recycled and compostable films also possess high stretch properties, and this is an important consideration if a customer is trying to run a registered bag. Typically, a registered bag has a 1-to-2-millimeter (plus or minus) cutoff. However, with these types of films, the customer is going to see a cutoff of 5-to-6 millimeters (plus or minus). That is a huge difference a lot of retailers won’t accept; frankly, that’s also out of range of what we would consider acceptable.

These are just a few of the factors that need to be considered and evaluated when running recycled or compostable films on packaging machinery. It is important for OEMs to work closely with material suppliers to innovate and develop practical solutions for more sustainable packaging.

What are some solutions for running green films on vertical form fill seal machinery?

We have developed several jaw-face styles that allow vertical form fill seal machines to seamlessly run a variety of film types, like green films. These machines are designed with a smooth HMI interface that allows for the operator to customize sealing for each film type. For example, the operator can dial in the specific heat temperature and length of sealing time, resulting in the perfect seal.

We also developed a pre-made pouch machine that employs several heating and cooling stations. This design innovation allows polyethylene and polypropylene films, which seal at a lower temperature, to be heated up slowly without burning and giving it a nice gradual heat transfer. This design also gives users more time on the machine to maintain their speed. In other words, instead of using one heat seal bar, the machine uses two heat seal bars to maintain its speed integrity.

Why is cooling a factor that needs to be considered when running green films?

Mono-layer films tend to wrinkle on side edges or at the top seal. Adding cooling can help alleviate some of those seal wrinkles to the point where the petfood package is acceptable to retailers and their customers. Many packaging OEMs offer a cooling station which is important when running green films. Machines with integrated cooling stations can produce a largely wrinkle-free bag. Adding multiple heat stations, along with cooling are just two ways to help effectively run a variety of recycled and compostable films on vertical form fill seal machines.

What needs to be considered when purchasing petfood packaging machinery?

Green films in petfood packaging are constantly evolving. Market demands and customer buying preferences today may very well be different five years from now. The best way to stay ahead of those trends is having packaging machinery that is flexible to run a wide variety of films. It’s important to work with a reputable OEM. Reputable OEMs are paving the way forward for greener packaging by working closely with film suppliers to deliver the best practical solutions to petfood manufacturers and their customers.

About the Author

Troy Snader is the Senior Vice President of Business Development for ProMach’s Secondary Packaging Group. He can be contacted at Troy.Snader@ProMachBuilt.com. For more information about ProMach please visit www.ProMachBuilt.com.

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Plan to visit ProMach brand booths at the 2023 Petfood Forum May 1st – 3rd in Kansas City.

Ossid provides superior tray overwrapping, flow wrapping, weigh price labeling, case scales, and horizontal thermoform fill & seal machinery. We are committed to designing and building solutions that protect product quality and fully meet our customers’ production needs.

Key Considerations for Your Flexible Packaging Equipment Purchase

April 6, 2023

Question: How important is it to consider the equipment’s flexibility or future capability in packaging equipment purchasing?

Answer: You need to know as a company where you want to be in five or 10 years. There are different offerings on each piece of equipment, and more complex machinery can do more things. If you want to take advantage of additional machine features either now or in the future, you’ll want to be looking for the equipment that will satisfy those anticipated needs or have the option to add them at a later date. Equipment is a big purchase for most companies, so you must look a few years down the road.

Question: Is it important to know all the requirements before looking at a purchase?

Answer: You are going to be unsatisfied with a piece of equipment if you did not figure out exactly what you need before buying; the machine will not perform to your expectations. The best way to get started is having those conversations with a supplier. They have the experience to make sure you select the right solution for your application, as well as addressing future needs. ProMach prides itself on the ability to consultatively sell equipment, and make sure the solution meets or exceeds your expectations. Performing your due diligence and asking questions up front will help guide you to the right partner and the right solution.

Question: How important is cost?

Answer: Cost is important, but it is more about matching equipment to the application. Some applications that may be more straightforward in nature may not require an expensive, top-of-the line machine. Many suppliers offer solutions ranging from entry-level with low to medium output, to robust, heavy-duty machines capable of packaging 150+ products per minute. Depending on your application, the machine and its series that you purchase is designed to grow with you. The takeaway here is to identify your application and match the right machine for that need, while being cognizant of how that machine or its family series can grow with you as your production needs expand. Packaging machines vary greatly in price. Chances are you will be running this machine for years to come, so do your research and buy a quality machine that is going to last the long haul.

Other cost considerations are materials (tray/film/etc.), down time, and support. When considering packaging machinery suppliers, make sure you’re finding a partner who will be get the job done right to keep your equipment performing at its peak for years to come. Buying quality machinery should result in less downtime. Support by your supplier should also include machine operation and maintenance training, empowering your team to keep your production output and quality high.

Question: Is there ever a time where it makes sense to hire a co-packer instead of purchasing your own equipment?

Answer: If you are running a new SKU or performing a trial run of a product, why set up an entire line if you do not know if it is going to be successful? In this type of instance, using a co-packer can make sense. If your line normally runs, for example, 12-ounce bags, but you are looking to diversify by offering a smaller bag with a limited quantity, working with a co-packer can be a great way to achieve those production goals. Using a co-packer also alleviates concerns such as staffing or adding equipment to package your products. In certain instances, using a co-packer can be a smart route to take.

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The ProMach Flexibles & Trays business line is a single source provider of flexible packaging and rigid tray packaging solutions, ProMach serves a variety of industries and applications. With numerous machinery installations worldwide and a vast portfolio of rugged and proven solutions, ProMach offers extensive experience handling a wide range of products in diverse conditions. ProMach consults with customers to identify the ideal package type to fit their unique application for each project, giving customers both choice and flexibility. Many of the world’s most successful brands use ProMach solutions to package their products into bags, pouches, sachets, stickpacks, trays, and more.

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