2021 + ISSUE TWO
E X P E R T
Q&A
Ken Harding
Solving the challenges of thermoformer loading Talon® pick-and-place systems address hygiene and product orientation issues.
For easy-opening features on the package, you can have peel headers, where you have a complete unsealed edge to hold onto or smaller peel corners. Sometimes, there are other more unique thermoformed features depending on the packaging requirements. A thermoformer will provide a high level of versatility with a simple tooling change. You can make a wide variety of packages on one compact machine.
Q:
What are the challenges for loading products into thermoformed pouches?
Harding: There are several challenges with auto-loading
13 VISION
KEN HARDING, DIRECTOR OF APPLICATIONS ENGINEERING AND SPECIAL PROJECTS at JLS® Automation, discusses how JLS mitigates the challenges of thermoformer loading while saving costs, materials and floor space for its customers. Harding holds more than 25 years of experience in packaging and food processing with a strong foundation in hygienic design, food applications and is an expert in thermoforming.
thermoformers. One being that thermoformers are intermittent operating packaging machines. This means they do not run continuously like how a flow wrapper does. Loading a thermoformer, you generally load products into the thermoformer packages while the machine is in dwell, in between web advances or during both dwell and during the web advance while tracking the acceleration and deceleration of the web. This makes managing infeed product delivery, calculating cycle rates and capacities, as well as balancing throughput requirements a little
Q:
How many thermoforming applications have you seen in your 25 years?
tougher compared to most other packaging applications. Other challenges include providing adequate access to the thermoformer and providing hygienic design, because you’re typically packaging either a raw or a ready-to-eat (RTE) product such as
Harding: I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands of thermoformers
a sandwich or deli meat. These applications require the most
in operation. I’m sure there is an application I haven’t seen, but
stringent hygienic design.
not many.
Q:
Q:
Are there specific product applications that are better for thermoformed pouches versus a flow wrapper or other format?
How is loading achieved while ensuring product integrity and accurate placement within the pocket?
Harding: It is typical for us, as well as in the general applicaHarding: For food applications, you’ve got the ability to produce
tion of loading a thermoformer, to track the index or track the
a modified atmosphere or vacuum package for extending shelf
web as it’s moving through the machine. Then, knowing what
life. A thermoformer also provides you with a multitude of film
the die array pattern is gives you fixed targets that you are
options from rigid trays to flexible pouches and skin packaging.
placing a product into. The key is to pick and load the product
