Hundreds of meat executives from around the world flocked to the Poly-clip System Corp. exhibit during the recent IFFA show in Frankfurt, Germany. Held May 15 through 20 at the Messe Frankfurt, IFFA is the largest meat equipment and packaging show in the world.

Meat-industry executives attending this year’s show were looking for new solutions for their processing needs. One exhibitor had much to offer.

“We’re the world’s leading manufacturer of clip closure systems,” said Gil Williams, vice president sales and marketing, Poly-clip System Corp., Mundelein, IL, while at the booth. “We’re showcasing a number of machines and systems at IFFA.”

Poly-clip offers the right machine for any application. For example, one product on display was its ICA 8700 Automatic Double-Clipper.

“It’s the ideal machine for medium-sized to large-diameter products up to 200 millimeters in diameter,” Williams says.

The ICA can process fibrous, collagen, and plastic casings, and it can be equipped with a slack-fill device for molded ham and similar products. Its innovative, fast Iris separator makes the ICA ideal for producing large volumes of products for slicing, including whole-muscle products, and molded ham. The patented Iris separator ensures clean sausage ends and careful portioning — even with large meat pieces, Williams adds.

When combined with a vacuum system, air-free stuffing is guaranteed — even for large-diameter products. The ICA can be combined with Poly-clip System sealing machines TSA 120 and TSA 200.

Another attention-grabber was the TSCA-N Automatic Sealing/Clipping machine. It processes flat film from a roll into a ready-to-fill casing, which is securely closed by the integral clipper. All commonly used films, both coated and uncoated, as well as laminates up to 65 millimeters in diameter, can be processed.

The TSCA-N consists of a synchronized automatic sealing machine and double clipper. This results in a continuous production line when a stuffer is used at the front end. Both production processes are operator-friendly and can be easily programmed via the central touch panel. Setting up and system control are differentiated by color, and are password- protected. For continuous production, an integrated control circuit ensures the automatic clipper always has sufficient shirred film available. Very short set-up times for different pack sizes are achieved with the quick-change format set.

Poly-clip’s FCA 3430 (with speeds up to 200 cycles) and 3430-18 (with speeds up to 150 cycles) Automatic Double-Clippers also drew much interest during IFFA. The 3430 closes fibrous and collagen casings ranging from 24 to 65 millimeters in diameter, and to 90 mm for plastic casings.

“The flexibility is achieved by a fast conversion of the clip size from 12 to 15 millimeters, and of the voiding distance from 18 to 26 or 30 millimeters,” Williams said.

The FCA 3430-18 closes all plastic, fibrous, and collagen casings. Diameters range from 24 to 90 mm, and to 120 mm for plastic casings. This high flexibility is achieved using a larger separator and by rapid change of the clip sizes from 12 to 15 or 18 mm, and of a voiding distance from 26 to 30 mm, or 36 mm.

Another product receiving “rave reviews” at IFFA was Poly-clip’s FCA 3463 Automatic Double-Clipper.

“This model replaces the 3462, and it has some unique features,” Williams says. “It’s the biggest seller world-wide.”

The FCA 3463 closes all plastic, fibrous, and collagen casings ranging from 40 to 120 mm in diameter — and even larger for some special applications. For air-free, loose filling of formed products, an additional overspreading with a total voiding distance of 130 mm is available. This machine can be combined with the TSA (transfer sealing machine). The TSA uses flat roll-stock film and supplies the ready-to-fill tube to the double clipper. One alternative to the swivel horn is the FCA 3463 with twin turret.

Poly-clip’s FCA 3442 Automatic Double-Clipper is quiet, compact, and operator-friendly. It operates at up to 130 cycles a minute, and it can handle plastic, cellulose, fibrous, and collagen casings up to 75 mm in diameter.

Poly-clip’s Uni-netter automated netting machine wraps whole turkeys and whole smoked hams in plastic netting for retail, as well as raw whole and spiral-cut hams for smoking. Features include a handle maker for easy finished package handling and a printed-tag applicator. The compact Uni-netter (32.5 inches wide, 78 inches in depth, and 87 inches in height) wraps up to 10 retail packages a minute with a handle and 15 raw packages a minute for smoking.

Last but not least, the ES 5000 Labeling System can be used with an FCA double-clipping machine for all products, which includes all diameters and types of casings and plastic film. Processors can use pre-printed or blank labels. Labels are fed by a compensating roller system ensuring accurate position of the imprint. The individual range of label design gives each product a unique character.