Cutting labor costs is a priority for food and beverage processors worldwide, but perhaps nowhere more so than in Japan. The country’s declining population, which is expected to dip from 126 million in 2018 to 102 million by 2050, is also impacting the available workforce. In fact, Japan is forecast to be short of 1.3 million workers within the next five years.

Faced with such as situation, the labor-saving solutions available from JBT Proseal could prove crucial to the long term prospects of Japan’s food industry.

As highlighted at the FOOMA 2022 food industry exhibition in Tokyo, which ran until June 10, JBT’s semi- and fully-automatic machines are helping Japanese protein processors cope with staff shortages, while helping improve both efficiency and hygiene.

For end-of-the-line packaging, JBT Proseal offers an extensive range of manual, semi-automatic and fully-automatic tray sealing machines with throughputs from six to 240 packs per minute. In addition, all tray sealing machines in Proseal’s range are capable of modified atmosphere packaging.

The Proseal GTOe, an automatic, medium-capacity, in-line tray sealing system with full vacuum facility designed to cut labor costs, had pride of place in the JBT booth at FOOMA, in keeping with JBT’s overarching theme of “labor-saving solutions” for the show.

The GTOe’s high accuracy tool alignment system, combined with simple design and operation, provides constantly accurate sealing and film cutting based on the tray flange profile. This combines with other automated features including automatic seal operation with accurate seal dwell time, as well as self-centring tray guides and a self-diagnostic system.

Further, the GTOe, which can fully integrate all peripheral equipment including infeed and outfeed conveyors, checkweighers and printers, features Proseal’s Promotion tool, a high accuracy continuous motion tray indeed system which increases production speed whilst reducing machine duty.

CLICK HERE to find out more about the Proseal GTOe

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