Interview: Gerhard Schubert showcases its Lightline series

At ProSweets Cologne 2019, FoodBev Media spoke with Gerhard Schubert managing director Marcel Kiessling about the company’s Lightline series of packaging machinery.

Schubert’s Lightline Flowpacker was the company’s primary focus at ProSweets, and the Flowpacker on show featured Schubert’s newly-developed variable cross-sealing unit, which guarantees constant sealing times at variable chain speeds while gently packaging heat-sensitive products such as chocolate.

The Lightline series includes three variants, the Flowpacker, Cartonpacker and Pickerline, all of which are preconfigured, compact solutions equipped with Schubert’s automated robotic technology, capable of packaging a wide range of products efficiently.

The Flowpacker exhibited at ProSweets was capable of packing 250 products every minute, and the machine featured a 3D image processing system to ensure that only flawless products were processed and packed.

Kiessling told FoodBev: “Lightline stands for machines that are pre-configured. They are somewhat standardised as opposed to the machines we build for very complex packaging applications.

“I think this is probably the only machine on the market where we have fully integrated a flow wrapping with a picker line, so compared to conventional layouts with flow-wrapping machines it saves more space and that means lower costs.”

When asked about the specific benefits offered by a pre-configured machine, Kiessling said: “If your application fits into the configurations offered by the Lightline series, there is no engineering effort at all, it means we push a button, generate a bit of material and then we can start building the machine. This allows us to pass those lower costs onto our customers.”

When asked about the patented cross-selling technology, Kiessling said: “The issue when hot sealing flow wraps with heat sensitive products is that the chain speed could slow down, which may lead to heat build-up which could destroy the seal of the foil.

“That is impossible with our new technology because we keep the sealing time constant, even when there are changes in chain speed. So even for heat-sensitive products such as chocolate, it’s the perfect solution.”

Presented and edited by: Martin White