British potato packer increased its throughput with new machinery

International Procurement & Logistics (IPL), one of the leading potato packers in the United Kingdom, specified a dramatic increase in productivity after investing in new machinery. The company has seen throughput increase by 25% over the last six months.

In 2015 when IPL bought its Westry site (the UK), the company began working with Gainsborough Industrial Controls (GIC), vertical form fill and seal packaging machinery manufacturer. Two GIC VFB8000 machines were packing sweet potatoes and bulb there.

Later the company acquired its Inchture site in Perthshire (Scotland), where company’s engineers found the existing vertical mold fill and seal machines were ineffective and required frequent attention. In 2018, IPL invested in its first two GIC8000 machines, which can conveniently pack 80 bags per minute, a 33% increase over previous machines.

Martin Raison, Applications Manager at GIC, said, “We showed them the GIC8000 in operation, and they were impressed with both the build quality of the 8000s and the company’s after-sales support.”

In February 2020, IPL doubled the number of GIC machines operating at its Scottish factory, which resulted in 15% productivity increase and 2% reduction in mechanical downtime.

Kirsty Reid, Factory Manager at IPL Inchture, shared that they now operate four GIC8000s and as a result, the tonnage they can handle each hour has increased. “And we have seen a reduction in downtime, with productivity rising beyond expectation. It’s been a very successful move for us,” she added.

International Procurement & Logistics is one of the largest privately owned food processing business in the UK. As well as produce, they focus on a number of other areas including beverages, protein and nuts. The company procure everything from Australian Chardonnay, to Kenyan flowers; South African citrus fruits, to British strawberries.

For further information, visit IPL’s website.

Based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, GIC are designer and manufacturer of vertical form fill and seal (VFFS) packaging machine solutions with 30 years experience. The company manufactures an extensive range of vertical bagmakers, producing a wide range of finished bag sizes from 150 to 600mm wide, in both intermittent and continuous motion variants.

More information can be found on GIC’s website.