Quick changeovers for chocolate novelty wrapping machine, says Rasch

Speaking to ConfectioneryNews.com at ProSweets in Cologne Germany, Tina Gerfer, managing director of Rasch, said that flexibility was the unique selling point of the firm’s new RU 2 Universal Wrapping Machine.

Changeovers and flexibility​

“The changeover times are really short,”​ she said. In the worst case it would take 4 to 5 hours to move from a flat bottom article to a figure, she said.

“It can wrap everything you can imagine regarding chocolate novelties,” ​she added. The machine can wrap small chocolate tablets, balls and eggs and is also capable of packaging hollow figures such as rabbits and teddy bears in a triple-fold style.

Versatile not speedy​

Speeds vary from 160 pieces per minute for envelope-fold flat bottom articles and up to 120 pieces per minute for hollow figures.

“They are not the fastest machines but the most versatile in the market as they can actually do everything you like, like string attachment, gluing feet to small beetles or doing some flittering stars to hang on the Christmas trees,”​ said Gerfer.

The machine can handle any packaging material that is permitted to wrap chocolate such as allumium foil.

Gerfer said that it took two people to operate the machine: One to survey the feeding charger and one to keep an eye on the conveying belt at the end of the machine.

“It’s maintained quite easily. You have to clean it after every shift. It takes you half an hour and you have it in running condition again,”​ she said.

Demand​

Asked where demand for the machine would be strongest, Gerber said: “I think it’s going to be the traditional ones… Approximately half of our sales go to German companies.”​

She added that the US and UK were also core markets and noted growing interest in Arabian and African markets.

Rasch serves large companies but focusses on small-to-medium-sized enterprises.

“We intentionally aim at those smaller companies maybe coming from hand-wrapping going for their very first wrapping machine,”​ said Gerfer.

Rach’s smallest capacity machines start at 50 pieces a minute and go up 400 pieces a minute for fast-running specialist machines. The RU2 takes up an average floor space of 2x2 metres, said Gerfer.