Ghana-based Universal Investment & Industries company, a confectionary packaging company, has enhanced its operational efficiency with a new introduction by Theegarten-Pactec
The Accra-based company co-manufacturer has a long-standing relationship with Theegarten-Pactec, a German packaging machine specialist with a focus on small confectionary, food and non-food items. On site, for example, Universal Inv. & Ind. has operated a BCW3, a machine specifically designed for the primary packaging of pressed bouillon tables with the capability to process up to 1,400 tables per minute via side folding.
While such solutions have allowed the company to be successful in the service and packaging industry for a number of years, it became necessary for the Ghanaian company to purchase another high-performance machine to carry out secondary packaging of the bullion tablets in-house and efficiently. Having previous experience with the high quality machines Theegarten-Pactec supplies, Universal Inv. & Ind. returned to the German packaging machine specialist to solve their dilemma, and were quickly presented with a BLM cartoner which was installed at the end of 2022.
One of the key advantages that led Universal Inv. & Ind. to opt for the BLM was that it provided them with a complete packaging process from a single source. The BLM uses the same operating concept as the BCW3, which ensures ideal communication and control between the machines and considerably reduces any issues at the interfaces, such as product jams. This contributes to an efficient process, while errors in the application are considerably reduced due to the same, easy-to-understand operating concept. If faults or errors should occur between the primary and secondary packaging machines that they cannot solve themselves, the universal employees can get in touch with a direct contact person at Theegarten-Pactec for a quick fault diagnosis and solution.
In installing the machine (which was developed in-house Theegarten-Pactec after five years of development and testing), Universal Inv. & Ind. became the first company to deploy the BLM in the industry.
“The BLM delivered excellent results in our tests. However, we can never fully simulate all possible situations that may arise, so we were excited to have an opportunity to use the machine for the first time at a customer’s site and run it under real conditions,” remarked Christian Pötsch, sales manager Africa at Theegarten-Pactec.
The BLM is a modular system that can handle different product sizes, carton dimensions as well as product formations in different output ranges. At Universal Inv. & Ind. up to 1,400 products per minute are currently dispensed by the BCW3 and then packed into cartons by the BLM at the same high output. The effectiveness of the machine has impressed Universal Inv. & Ind. which also appreciated the compact design of the solution, allowing operators an optimum overview of the entire packing line. Another feature that appealed was the BLM’s exceptional flexibility. In terms of product configuration in the cartons, single-row, multi-row, multi-layer and other pack formations are possible with just one machine. And the option of expanding the BLM with additional technical features also pays off.
The installation of the BLM was reportedly a resounding success in West Africa. “Our customer is clearly satisfied with this solution. He has already received a second production line consisting of a BCW3 and BLM,” Pötsch concluded.
