Equipment

Headland Foods, the supermarket own-label ready meal supplier, has upgraded its packing line with a tray sealer and conveying equipment from Packaging Automation.

The firm, which has operations in Flint, North Wales and Grimsby, North-East Lincolnshire, started by hiring the Vision 400 but decided that buying was cheaper than hiring over a long period.

The Vision 400 has been installed at Flint and a company spokesman said it was operating at 60 packs a minute. "It's a decent machine that does a good job," he said.

The machine offers quick tool changes and is menu-driven from a touch screen. It offers atmospheric, MAP-F, MAP-V and high oxygen flushing, making it suitable for meat, poultry, vegetables and convenience foods.

It can seal plain or printed film to CPET, APET, aluminium foil, PP, PVC and board.

Headland Foods was established in 1990 and produces more than two million ready meals a week. It offers 180 product lines to supermarkets including Tesco, Morrisons, Co-op, Iceland and Sainsbury's.

Knutsford, Cheshire-based Packaging Automation produces tray sealers, filling and sealing machines, conveyors and other ancillary equipment for the food, medical, personal care and DIY markets.