Journey of Sustainable Packaging

With the packaging industry eagerly anticipating the first interpack in six years, Hugo Beck – a world leading specialist in horizontal film packaging machines, flowpack and paper packaging machines as well as automation solutions – is welcoming visitors to its stand to see at first hand the significant improvements in machinery for sustainable packaging, including a brand-new solution for paper packaging.

Since the last interpack in 2017, Hugo Beck has invested heavily in introducing new film and paper packaging machines, as well as in improvements to existing machines and capabilities.
These advances will be showcased on the Hugo Beck stand, which will take visitors on a journey through the options available in paper and film packaging. Hugo Beck promises ‘the highest flexibility for today’s markets and tomorrows.’

A key focus will be on the ability to deliver sustainable packaging concepts and resource-saving machine technology. This includes futureproofing customers’ packaging processes through the integration of flexible, fully automated packaging machines, which help to reduce material consumption, drive greater efficiency and improve recyclability.

On the Hugo Beck stand (Hall 11, Stand G39)

– The Hugo Beck stand is highlighting individual packaging solutions for diverse industries and products. A brand new flexo paper packaging solution will be introduced to the market as a cost-effective entry model and a space-saving machine solution. As a hybrid variant of the company’s flexo machine series for paper and film the machine can be changed between packaging materials within minutes, making it perfect for a number of industries from e-commerce and logistics through to many others.

– The paper e-com fit for paper packaging, which is ideal for e-commerce applications, automatically adapts the size of shipping bags to the varying length and width of products. Different product sizes up to 200 mm tall can be packaged in a jumble using a minimum amount of paper. The precisely fitting paper bags feature two sewn sides plus a glued top overlap. As such, it opens up new possibilities for sustainable shipping packaging for the e-commerce, mail order and logistics sectors when it comes to direct dispatch of individual goods, packing groups of products or meeting the complex requirements of returns packaging.

– The flowpack X is a modular solution for air-tight film packaging and paper packaging. Easily adjusted to process varying packaging materials with a short changeover, and capable of coping with the most diverse heat and cold-sealable paper-based packaging materials and films with different thickness, the flowpack X enables optimum functionality for manufacturers seeking sustainable packaging materials. Offering air-tight film packaging, it is perfect for pharmaceutical or medical technology, but the flowpack X provides customers across multiple industries with ultimate flexibility and security when working with a variety of packaging materials.

– The continuous servo X Form Fill and Seal machines are capable of material savings of 60-70% through minimal use of film targeting diverse industries. Minimising the use of packaging material in the first place is a key requirement for sustainability. The servo X machine series is designed to ensure film use is as efficient as possible while delivering a consistently high, or even increased, output across all types of machine-compatible films, such as mono-material films, recycled content films and bioplastics. The amount of film required is reduced by simply using the company’s extremely tight packaging technology, which delivers a precision fit of the film and hardly any film waste during production. The environmental profile of film packaging can also be optimised by making it as thin and light as possible. Packaging machines from Hugo Beck process extremely thin packaging and shrink films starting from only 7 µm.

SEW-EURODRIVE is exhibiting Hugo Beck’s latest flowpack X for paper packaging, which is available with complete machine automation solutions from SEW-EURODRIVE on request. The selected drive and automation components from SEW-EURODRIVE have been expanded specifically due to Hugo Beck‘s sustainability requirements and now include components such as energy storage units and stepper drives. The use of an intelligent energy management system and the replacement of pneumatic drives with electromechanical drives significantly and measurably reduces energy requirements and makes compressed air unnecessary.

The use of an energy storage unit, in conjunction with the software modules from SEW-EURODRIVE, leads to stabilisation of the power supply and bridging of short-term voltage dips, to reduced peak loads as well as to controlled stops in the event of longer power failures. This means that the machine can also be used when the power grid is not stable or even when a power failure is expected.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming visitors to interpack, to see the huge strides we’ve made in terms of product development since the last show,” commented Timo Kollmann, Managing Director of Hugo Beck. The world has changed a lot over the past six years, with an increased focus on sustainability and significant growth in sectors such as e-commerce. Our latest solutions help customers to meet their challenges in terms of increased sustainability while still delivering on the key requirements for effective packaging such as protection and preservation of products.”