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Multivac has introduced its new R3 thermoforming packaging machine for food manufacturers to keep pace with the range of pack types and packaging materials. Available from July 2022, the machine will not only run the latest types of packaging materials, such as recyclable and environmentally friendly mono films, but it will also be adapted to a wide range of customer requirements due to its modular construction. “Our aim is to offer 'best-fit' machine configurations to not only small and medium-sized companies but also larger companies with tight budgets,” said Michael Landerer, product manager at Multivac. “Cost-effective solutions, which are perfectly matched to the customer's production environment, and which are neither over-dimensioned nor under dimensioned. Solutions, which at the same time incur the lowest possible maintenance costs.” The R3 comprises four stations: the forming station, the loading area, the sealing die and the cutting area. “The R3 achieves a speed of twelve cycles per minute at its peak level and can therefore reach the output of high-end slicer lines,” added Landerer. The new machine has been equipped with “allover heating” in order to heat recyclable films evenly to prevent waves at the edges of packs. Additionally, “the chain guides for the web advance can be adjusted individually, and they are also decoupled from all the forces of the machine processes," explained the company. "This means, for example, the weight of the die set is borne entirely on the side frames. Therefore, no vibrations are transmitted to the film.”