E W King (Kings Seeds) are a leading supplier of a wide range of seeds, packed and distributed, from their warehouse in Kelvedon, Essex. They were looking for a new paper pouch filling machine to replace their existing line, which had provided nearly 40 years of service. After considering various options they eventually settled on an IPS-8BT – special envelope, fold and glue pouch filling machine from Intamac Packaging Systems (Intamac).
One of the key reasons that Kings chose the IPS-8BT was the potential to reduce product giveaway. Seeds are a natural raw material which means that there is considerable variation in the size of the product, pthe previous machine would often overpack by approximately 10 seeds per pack, to ensure that customers were receiving enough product. The new machine uses Intamac’s weighing scale counting software which means a maximum of 2 seeds per pouch are over packed, this equates to a 24% product giveaway saving. Mark Catchpole, Production Line Manager, is delighted with the cost savings that this will bring, “Seeds are getting more expensive every year and the amount of product giveaway has been really adding up. We hope that the machine will pay for itself within the next 3 years through giveaway saving alone.” He continues, “there is also a lot less damage to the seeds and no breakages because of the gentle fold and glue envelope system.”
The machine was installed at the end of 2018 by Intamac’s UK based engineers and has been running regularly since then. Mark Catchpole was impressed by the speed of the installation and level of training that his staff received, “The Intamac team was very efficient and the machine was installed within a day. My team are used to dealing with machinery and found the training excellent and follow up assistance attentive.” He was also impressed by how easy the machine was to clean, “The machine is built for easy operation, product can easily be run through, meaning that changeovers are fast and clearing up is efficient. The software is also intuitive and quick to update.”
Tom Poston, sales executive, Intamac, is delighted with how easily the system has been integrated into Kings’ production line, “This is a small machine that packs a big punch and is already making a difference to Kings’ bottom line.” He continues, “They have been great to work with and their team have had the skill set to quickly learn how to operate the machine, understand its’ capabilities and see how it can help them to fulfil their orders.” The machine is also fitted with an inc.jet date coding and pricing TIJ system which allows for clean, easy printing during the packing process.
