The Heat and Control and Ishida (HCI) Alliance is delivering on the promise of a ‘one-stop-shop’ for integrated processing and packaging snack solutions, with an expert team and a selection of the latest innovative equipment design on display at Snackex, Barcelona, on booth 401, a press release has recently revealed.

Heat and Control and Ishida have a lot of experience in the processing and packaging of snack food products and an associated broad array of machine capability that covers the entire process from unloading raw product to case packed retail ready product. All of this will be put on display during the event, which will take place between June 27-28, 2019.

“With the growing need for automation to reduce costs and optimize output speeds, working with one supplier like HCI is a far easier process, as customers only need to speak to one team,” said Bobby Kane, Heat and Control general manager for West and South Europe and the Middle East.

The Heat and Control FastBack® Left Right Centre (LRC) diverting twin weigher infeed solution will be on display at Snackex. The LRC is a double multihead weigher feed solution designed to provide a precise and consistent product stream to Ishida’s patented back-to-back 218 twin weigher. The LRC provides an accurate feed of product to weigher to ensure long, continuous packaging runs.

Heat and Control’s patented FastBack Revolution Proportional Gate’s integrated packaging controls combine with a pivoting weigher-feeder design which accurately delivers product streams to the weigher, whether feeding only one side of the weigher or both.

The LRC provides manufacturers with the flexibility of two modes of operation:

Discrete Feeding: When the weigher feeder pivots to the left, right, or centre based on call signals from the weigher.

Biased Feeding: Where the weigher feeder’s initial position is determined by weigher and bagmaker set points and auto adjust to bias the product flow to improve weigher performance.

Smart design, incorporating parts which don’t need to be removed for cleaning, means simple ‘wipe and go’ sanitation requirements, leaving more time for production.

“Investing in new machinery designed for hygiene can assist your business in avoiding downtime and costly product recalls,” said Kane.

The next evolution in vertical form fill seal (VFFS) technology will be on display with the Ishida Inspira Snack Bagmaker. The Inspira offers consistent forming and sealing performance of up to 200 bags per minute. The Inspira bagmakers further improve accuracy, sealing integrity, ease of use, and productivity.

There will also be an interactive display, where customers can experience the HCI equipment range and systems capabilities via a series of touchscreen presentations. Customers can use the touchscreen experience to view the yield saving benefits of the E-FLO™, a Pulse Electric Field Processing (PEF) system which enables faster processing of potatoes, cutting improvements for a longer blade life and lower oil content in the final product.