FDBusiness.com

Smurfit Kappa is to equip Maison Johanès Boubée, one of the major players in the French wine trade, with filling and Bag-in-Box technologies.

Maison Johanès Boubée, established in 1860, is one of the central purchasing agencies for the Carrefour group. It has three complementary activities: trade/purchasing for private labels, bottling and logistics, and has recently opened a brand new bottling centre near Bordeaux in France, in order to modernise and increase its capacities. In addition to the bottles, a filling line, supplied by Smurfit Kappa, is entirely dedicated to Bag-in-Box packaging.

The last generation line includes a case erector, closing machine, weight-checking, filling machine and a Vitop handle insertion machine. The filling machine, at the heart of the line, is a BIB700 Double Head, a high-speed automatic machine. Designed for large industrial production facilities which seek efficiency, reliability and high-quality filling, it features the new generation filling valve with two separate circuits for nitrogen and vacuum.

“The new generation funnel which ensures delicate drops of the bags and the new filling valve were determining factors for us. We are very satisfied with Smurfit Kappa’s BIB700 filling machine as it has a very high flow rate and ensures good-quality filling. This complete line does allow us to optimise and increase our Bag-in-Box filling and packaging”, said Mathieu Soulard, the plant director.
This complete line is also equipped with a Vitop handle insertion machine in order to automatically insert handles on Bag-in-Box packaging. It has a rapid insertion rate, is easy to use and is flexible as it can insert handles on a wide range of box styles and sizes.

The company said that its complete filling line, featuring the last filling machine BIB700 Double Head, will allow Maison Johanès Boubée to optimise their oxygen management in order to increase the shelf-life of their Bag-in-Box while gaining in productivity and performance.