THE first Proseal CP3 automatic case packing system to be installed at Arbroath-headquartered Angus Soft Fruits has reached a major milestone after handling over eight million trays since it started operation just over a year ago.
The CP3 is the initial prototype model, which was developed at the request of Ionut Tirziu, Angus Soft Fruits’ engineering and maintenance manager, who had been unable to find a suitable case packing solution to meet the firm’s requirements.
“As a long-standing customer of Proseal, I know the company’s outstanding engineering capabilities and I was able to convince them to turn their skills to create a case packing system that would be able to handle trays efficiently and at high speeds,” Ionut explained. “The excellent performance and reliability of this original model shows that my faith was justified.”
As well as the original machine, Angus Soft Fruits has installed a second Proseal CP3, alongside its existing nine Proseal GT2 and one Proseal GT6eX-Twin tray sealing machines.
“Angus Soft Fruits is leading the market with innovation and efficiencies, which is incredibly important in producing and packing berries,” Ionut added. “Continual packing innovation is essential to deliver the best quality fruit and efficiently pack to extend shelf life.”
Proseal said the development of the CP3 in conjunction with Angus Soft Fruits demonstrates the ‘strong’ working partnership that exists between the two companies. This same partnership also led Proseal to produce what at the time was its fastest GT6 tray sealing machine, capable of sealing around 250 packs per minute. Angus Soft Fruits was also involved in the development of Proseal’s ProVision monitoring system.
Proseal sales director Tony Burgess said, “We fully understand the many challenges involved in soft fruit packing, particularly its seasonality and therefore the need to maximise throughput, minimise waste and ensure a streamlined operation that gets produce from the field to the retail shelf in the shortest possible time. All our new equipment development work is focused on these requirements.”
