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Packing and weighing solutions company, Ishida Europe, has launched a tray sealer which is said to have improved performance and environmental benefits. The new Ishida QX-500 has been developed following detailed feedback from the company’s global customers and partners. The new compact tray sealer can easily fit into new and existing packing lines and combines seal quality and high throughput, helping companies reach their sustainability goals. Ishida says that the QX-500 delivers a 66% increase in cycle speed, a 44% reduction in weight, a 46% reduction in size and a 50% reduction in energy consumption, meaning the new tray sealer significantly reduces waste and delivers an increase in productivity. The tray sealer offers a variety of consistently high-quality sealing options – seal only, gas flushing, MAP, stretch film and skinpack – across a wide variety of tray designs and materials, including plastic, board and recyclable and innovative paper film formats to support the use of sustainable packaging. Tara O’Connor, Ishida Europe’s product manager for tray sealers, said: “The global food market remains extremely competitive and companies face many challenges on a daily basis. By talking in depth with our customers and partners, we have been able to fully understand their tray-sealing requirements. The QX-500 is designed to maximise yields and throughput without compromising on product or pack quality and while minimising environmental impact.” The QX-500 incorporates Ishida’s new ‘IntelliSeal’ technology system that ensures excellent seal integrity for extended shelf life while providing ease of opening for the end user. The system measures the sealing force of the tray sealer to optimise sealing pressure, temperature and time for each cycle. This enables the machine to adapt itself to each packaging format to guarantee the highest pack quality, consistency and integrity. O’Connor continued: “Often development initiatives for products for an existing technology are based upon incremental improvements. The QX-500 represents a true clean-sheet approach, with a development process that involved very high expectations and features enhancements across all aspects of the machine.” “This very broad development approach for both new technologies and machine construction means that we can truly state that the new QX-500 is revolutionary rather than evolutionary. All the new sub-systems come together to make something greater than the sum of its parts.”