Bag automation raises output and quality
The need to combine higher output with the quality and flexibility required by its retail customers has led meat processor Wignall Foods to invest in...
The need to combine higher output with the quality and flexibility required by its retail customers has led meat processor Wignall Foods to invest in two vertical bagging machines, each twinned with a multi-head weigher.
Increased demand meant the supplier wanted to automate the process, using Sandiacre TG320-L baggers.
Some 20t of product a day, two-thirds of it raw, frozen meat, is portioned into packs of between 500g and 1.4kg.
Around 70% of output is for own-label customers, and the remainder is branded.
One-piece forming sets mean that size changeover is straightforward, says Sandiacre, and only takes around 10 minutes. Even so, Wignall's production schedule limits changeovers to one per shift on each line for the sake of efficiency.
