Faster, faster, faster — this is what many bakers and snack producers are asking of their packaging suppliers today. However, these requests are often coming with some tight restrictions.

“Everybody’s trying to push more speed and less space,” said Bill Kehrli, vice president of sales and marketing, Cavanna Packaging. “We’re being challenged to do more with less — we never have enough space in the bakery. As the ovens get faster and faster, that leaves less room for packaging because the ovens grow.”

With this in mind, suppliers are innovating with machines that can make a bigger impact within a smaller footprint. Cavanna’s Twin-Slim horizontal flow wrapper, for example, can double throughput in the space of one traditional machine.

“We can put two flow wrapping lines in the footprint of one,” Kehrli said.

At this year’s Pack Expo, to be held Nov. 3-6 in Chicago, Harpak-Ulma will showcase its FR400 Twin flow wrapper, which similarly offers dual lane packaging in a reduced footprint.

“This is the ideal solution for any bakery and snack bar manufacturers who are dealing with the need to increase line capacity without taking up a substantial amount of new factory floor space,” explained Josh Becker, product manager for bakery/confection, Harpak-Ulma.

Liam Buckley, sales director at Ima Ilapak USA, noted the use of servo motors on the company’s Doytronic 120 results in a more compact design that can still run a variety of films.

“Utilization of linear servos helps reduce footprint yet maintains flexibility in packaging,” he said.

This article is an excerpt from the October 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Packaging Innovation, click here.