Automated Handling Systems for Retortable Pouches

LAN Handling Systems provide systems for the handling of retorted food products and are represented by F.Jahn & Company.

LAN Handling Systems, represented in the UK and Ireland by F. Jahn & Co. Ltd., designs and builds systems for the handling of retorted food products in cans, jars, trays and increasingly in pouches.

LAN Equipment

Ambient prepared foods and ready meals is an area where LAN have been active over the past decade and they are positioned to assist companies in the automation of the handling of the types of packaging used for these products. The LAN equipment forms the link between the processes of filling, retorting and packaging in plants where pasteurised or sterilised products are manufactured.

A recent installation is for a major food manufacturer in Scandinavia, who produces prepared meals in thermo-formed pouches. The LAN system takes the packs from the thermo-former conveyor and automatically loads them into special retort trays by means of a pick and place unit.

These trays are then stacked and transferred into the retorts for a pasteurisation process. The tray stacks are then transferred out of the retorts, de-stacked and the pouches are automatically unloaded and conveyed to a packing area, where they are placed manually into plastic crates for storage prior to final packaging in cartons. The LAN system includes an automated stacking system for the plastic crates.

LAN specialise in customer specific solutions and have installed a large number of innovative systems, both with well tested and new methods. A department has recently been created to develop robotic solutions, in response to the increasing demand for this technology.