he world's leading seafood company and largest producer of farmed salmon with facilities in 19 countries. The site at Rinmore supplies customers world-wide with organic, Atlantic salmon under The Irish Organic Salmon Co. brand, and Premium Atlantic salmon, under the Donegal Silver brand. Marine Harvest required a new machine for their packing hall to strap their polystyrene boxed fish because it was proving difficult to guarantee engineering support and spares for their previous machines. The StraPack RQ-7000MV18 was chosen for its robustness and reliability. Furthermore, with 15 engineers across the UK and Ireland, Gordian supplies comprehensive after sales service and support. The machine, which was installed in October 2013, runs on 12mm PP strap, and has an arch size of 700mm wide x 650mm high.
The RQ-7000MV18 is ready to run in under 20 seconds from start-up and has easy strap loading with no need to remove the machine from the conveyor line, thereby increasing up-time. Minimal moving parts ensure that wear and tear is reduced and operational life is increased. Moisture protection features include stainless steel construction, fully enclosed cabinet, side sealing design, reinforced lower cabinet and permanently lubricated mechanisms.
Boxes are pushed into the machine by hand. A blue plastic mat conveyor (300mm infeed and 300mm outfeed) drives the boxes into and out of the machine. Two straps are applied per pack. Photo cells detect the pack position, which eliminates the need for the operator to press a button to strap each time. The machine speed of 1.2 seconds per strap is ideal for existing and future production demands.
Paddy Martin, Maintenance Manager at Marine Harvest Rinmore commented “The StraPack machines came highly recommended by a pelagic fish processor in Co. Donegal. We’ve found the new machine to be very reliable and we have been delighted with Gordian’s customer service.”
