Simon Taylor, Commercial Director at Kliklok International discusses aligning product innovations with the manufacturing strategies of its customers

With food and drink manufacturers continuing to face the pressures associated with short product lead times, manufacturing decision makers are looking to invest in machinery that not only provides flexibility but also offers a long term return on investment.

 

A better understanding of how such investments can result in increased manufacturing output and reduced machinery maintenance is seeing those with purchasing power turn to technological solutions which align with their manufacturing strategies, rather than a one-size-fits-all solution.

 

With over 50 years of Great British engineering expertise, Kliklok has a reputation for providing machinery that addresses key manufacturing issues. By continuing to work closely with its customers the company offers innovative and intelligent packaging machinery that reduces labour costs, increases production speeds and ensures efficiency.

 

A recent example of this is this is a collaboration undertaken by the Kliklok team with Weetabix, the UK’s leading cereal brand. The Weetabix Food Company currently has a number of Kliklok’s automatic cartoning lines at its Kettering site in Northamptonshire, packing both Alpen cereal bars and Weetabix biscuits.  In order for the machinery to run as efficiently as possible Kliklok worked closely alongside robotics and automation company CKF and Weetabix technicians to ensure the integration of the two fully automated lines for wrapped packs of Weetabix biscuits.

 

Each line included Kliklok’s award winning high performance CELOX cartoner, designed to offer rapid carton size changeover, easy access and a user friendly touch screen that guarantees flexibility and versatility in this demanding food production environment. Both lines were then configured to pack four different formats of Weetabix’s standard 12-biscuit wrap, namely a 24 pack, a 48 pack, a 36 pack and a 72 pack with the design of each machine system matching the specific mechanical and electrical requirements of the Weetabix factory.

 

With the CELOX cartoner already being used by Kliklok’s global partners including Heinz, Kraft, Nestle, Findus, United Biscuits and McCain, the team was able to use customer feedback to evolve the line helping to provide a bespoke solution for Weetabix. As a result, we have also been able to increase our industry knowledge and expertise, which we will use to further support food and drink manufacturers.

 

 

By building mutually beneficial relationships with our customers Kliklok is able to develop the next generation of packaging machinery solutions and address the evolving needs of manufacturers. Working closely with factory floor engineers and technicians, as well as project managers, results in shared knowledge and improves the problem-solving abilities of everyone involved.

 

The solutions provided to each customer differ in accordance to their requirements but in accommodating varying shapes, sizes, configurations and processing speeds Kliklok has been able to expand into new sectors, and with great success. Providing high quality machinery with a low cost of ownership has allowed Kliklok to remain at the forefront of the global packaging machinery industry whilst helping to push the manufacturing capabilities of some of the world’s best known food and drink manufacturers.

 

For more information on Kliklok’s range of packaging machinery please contact Michelle Newman on +44 1275 836131 or email [email protected].