One of the UK’s leading potato packers has seen a dramatic increase in productivity, after investing in new equipment. Over the last six months, IPL, which is part of the ASDA family, has seen a throughput increase of 25%.

IPL acquired its Inchture site in Perthshire in 2015 and found the existing vertical form fill and seal machines (VFFS) to be inefficient and unreliable. In 2018, the company invested in its first two GIC8000 machines, which could pack 80 bags per minute, showing an increase of 33% compared to the previous machines.

Kirsty Reid, factory manager at IPL Inchture, says: “Introducing the two new GIC machines to our line at IPL Inchture in February has been incredibly successful. We now operate four GIC8000s and as a result, the tonnage we can handle each hour has increased, and we’ve seen a reduction in downtime, with productivity rising beyond expectation. It’s been a very successful move for us. As well as being more efficient than our previous machines, the GIC8000s uses less film than the aging machines we replaced, which is another positive.”

Vertical form fill and seal packaging machinery manufacturer, GIC, began working with IPL in 2015. Martin Raison, applications manager at GIC, said IPL was impressed with both the build quality of the 8000s and the company’s after-sales support. Designed and built in the UK, GIC has developed the 8000 for high-speed lines packing into bag styles up to 400mm wide, with pillow gusseted or block bottoms. The GIC8000 integrates with upstream equipment such as multi-head weighers, augers, pumps, cup fillers, and counters. The GIC8000 also integrates with check-weighers and other downstream equipment.