Based in Canada and with offices all around the world, Premier Tech Chronos (PTC) is the packaging equipment group of Premier Tech. PTC is among the largest packaging equipment manufacturers in the world and well-known in the flexible and rigid packaging industries for its state-of-the-art packaging machines and complete packaging lines for small- and large-scale production. Its wide product portfolio includes solutions such as bagging scales and feeders, bagging machines, robotic and conventional palletizers, stretch
wrappers, stretch hooders, conveyors, and more. Packaging South Asia met Eric Diamond, president Flexible Packaging Solutions, Premier Tech Chronos, for a discussion on the company’s displays at PackEx India 2017 and its upcoming business plans in India.
PTA-100 Bagger – Compatible automation
Premier Tech Chronos had two machines on display at its stand—SpeedAc IQ and PTA-100. The SpeedAc IQ offers state-of-the-art features with the latest microprocessor technology, allowing users to more accurately measure bag weights in lesser time. The machine has a advanced human interface with colors, touch screens and graphics that one would find in any new human interface having all the technologies to weigh free-flowing products. The Semi-Automatic bagger, PTA-100, is an entry-level, easy to operate, automated bagging system that can be easily integrated in existing lines. The machine has been designed specially for markets like India, Southeast Asia and Africa where there are thousands of
manual machines and customers who are either not ready for or capable of using highly sophisticated automated machines.
According to Diamond, The PTA-100 uses Tier-I components that are highly reliable cost effective. The unit is compact and compatible with any conveyors or other systems. “The customer can reuse many of the things he already has. The machine basically allows one to use automation in an affordable way. It offers high accuracy, using the user-friendly weighing controller (SpeedAC NXT) with multiple display screens. It has a simple and rugged design, which allows easy access underneath the machine. The machine is perfect for both dusty as well as granular applications and can fill up to 20 bags per minute,” he shared.
Potential of the Indian market
Speaking about the particular market for which the bagger was made, Diamond said, “We have noted over the past few years that in places like India, Southeast Asia and Africa, access to labor is becoming more and more difficult. It’s not a question of reducing the role of the labor force but getting them to do competitive tasks in certain challenging environments. This is interesting for smaller customers for whom the major requirement is not full automation and hands-free systems, but a system that allows them to be competitive and productive within their existing infrastructure. This machine was launched at ProPack Asia in Bangkok in 2017 and this is only the second time it has been on display. Currently, we have a couple of prototypes that have been in operation for specific applications with a few customers.”
Premier Tech Chronos has 10 branches across the country and a team of 35 installation and servicing engineers to support the market. “Across the world, wherever we have multiple installations, we always have a very strong servicing setup. This can be seen as our global reach with a local touch. Especially when a customer has been operating manually for many years, assistance is very important to implement automation. We’re confident that when you meet us next year, we’ll have several of these machines already in operation in India. In fact, there have been quite a few serious inquiries which we are confident of converting soon.”
Quite a few big Indian companies are interested in their machines and that is expected to generate word-of-mouth for the machines that should reach the SMEs—a segment Diamond keen to target. Talking about the challenges in the Indian market, he called India a highly diverse market producing a varied range of products on a massive scale. “Trying to tap into this diversity of opportunities that India presents is quite a challenge for any business. Taking a leap into automation may seem difficult for many manufacturing companies but Premier Tech Chronos is ready to collaborate with them to meet their production needs and develop long-term relationships while providing reliable packaging equipment supported by a world-class customer service,” he concluded.
