IN the highly-competitive market for dips, pastes and convenience foodstuffs, manufacturers gain a substantial commercial edge from packing and filling machinery that is easy to clean, maintain and modify.
Knowing this, Michael Joel, the Managing Director of Josephine la Gourmet Pty Ltd of Moorabbin in Victoria, went to JL Lennard Pty Ltd when he needed to expand his production lines to meet a sharply rising demand for the company's range.
"We pack our products in both 200g and 150g containers and, depending on orders, often have to undertake fast changeovers," said Mr Joel, whose business is expanding at a remarkable average rate of 37% a year.
"We needed a compact machine that was both versatile and easy to adapt and operate and that is why we chose Lennard's Pack Line PXG tub filling and sealing machine. It is fast, very hygienic and can handle a wide range of moist products of varying consistencies."
JL Lennard’s PXG fill, seal and overcap machine is suitable for a broad range of liquid, paste, granulated or powdered products and has an output of 25 to 100 cups a minute in diameters of up to 120mm. Able to be fed from one, two or four lanes, it efficiently processes containers of many different shapes and sizes.
Stainless steel and food grade material is used for all product-contact parts of the machine, which can also heat seal and code print. It can pick and place plastic overcaps before finally ejecting a finished product. Additional function options are available if required.
"We have used Lennard products almost from January 2003, when we took over Josephine la Gourmet from the family who established the brand some 12 years ago," said Mr Joel.
"Lennard's service is excellent. They prove the machinery using your own products and then work with you until they are satisfied that everything is operating smoothly and efficiently.
"We like the PXG especially because it uses easily-removed conveyor plates instead of a belt and this makes changeovers very fast. We can be producing another product on the Pack Line in only 15 minutes.”
"It's adaptable, too. We've now had another filler installed so that we can pack two flavours in each tub or produce a layered product,” added Mr Joel.
The latest machine - a PXG2 two-lane model - has twice the capacity of Joesphine's first PXG, handling up to 50 pieces a minute depending on the product and packaging materials.
Josephine's high-quality products are sold in Coles, Bi-Lo and some Woolworth supermarkets and in many independent grocery outlets, like Drakes in Adelaide. Josephine's also has a growing market for bulk packs in the catering and food service industries.
"Dips is one of the fastest growing categories in supermarkets and we were the first manufacturer to put our range into stand-out cardboard sleeves," said Mr Joel.
"Recently we launched an exciting new line of pesto-style gourmet dips to supplement our range and we will soon introduce layered and Asian-inspired dips to the Australian market."
Pack Line technology, for which JL Lennard's national network is the distributor, training and service provider, is part of an advanced, modular and PLC-controlled international range marketed in Israel, USA, Canada, CIS, Australia, UK, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Italy, Ireland, Iceland, Turkey, Latin America and Mexico.
JL Lennard is a family-owned Australian company founded in 1879. The company shares the principles and services of the international Pack Line Group, including individual design for each order, operator training and technical support at any time and any place and order performance at the earliest possible date.