for more information about stanelco click on the links.

driver's research page link
http://www.moneyam.com/InvestorsRoom/posts.php?tid=7681#lastread
website link
http://www.stanelco.co.uk/index.htm

Suggest we all go off for three months, then we will be back for next news at end April. Have a great time chaps.

I've been off for years!

sd, have you run out scripts?

Consigned to bottom drawer, I think.
SEO will take time....

just pulled these posts from another bb hope they do not mind.


RF Sealing and Asda Trials

I have spoken to two companies recently, one involved with the development of the RF Tray Sealing equipment and the other with actual trials in a Food Production environment of this equipment. The feedback that I have received from the company developing the equipment was that the conveying and mechanics of the tray sealing equipment worked fine but that the RF Sealing process itself was 'inconclusive'.

The feedback from the actual Food Production trials was that 'the RF Sealing process was not very successful if moisture was present on the lip of the tray to be sealed'. In addition the time required to form a seal meant that throughput on some lines dropped from 40 using conventional thermal sealing to only 10 using RF Sealing.

I cannot substantiate these comments or provide any additonal information in terms of names etc but I wondered if anyone else can add anything further?

Regards

3PATRICK - 18 Jan'07 - 10:46 - 79154 of 79156
Sakedometa

Are you talking about SEO specifically.

Sakedometa - 18 Jan'07 - 11:30 - 79155 of 79156

3PATRICK
Yes, the equipment manufacturer Proseal are mentioned on SEO's website and the trial was definitely an Asda RF Tray Sealing trial which I believe was SEO although SEO were not mentioned specifically.

jimward9
You shouldn't believe B/Boards

From the Final Results 28 February 2005

The current process of heat sealing has numerous drawbacks. It requires a laminated layer of polyethylene (PE) to act as a sealing layer. It is usually unable to reliably seal through contamination and is energy inefficient. By using Stanelco's sealing technology it is possible to offer enormous savings to both packagers and supermarkets a like by;

Eliminating the PE layer to reduce the cost of each tray by up to 20%
Vastly reduced wastage rates, resulting from the ability to seal through
contamination

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200502280700160819J.html

driver
if RF sealing by SEO is so good, these things would be selling like mad by now with all the development time they have had, this may explain why they are not.
So i will beileve it, untill some one can prove it wrong.
jim

jimward9
They tested Greenseal with sauce and even food on the tray lids let alone a bit of moisture and it still sealed 100% with no leaks, yes you believe what you like.

those were in tests not at production speeds.
i could seal them with a tube of glue and call it a test.

Whilst agreeing that according to SEO Greenseal worked excellently when sealing through moisture, there coud be some truth in the comment by jimward "if RF sealing by SEO is so good, these things would be selling like mad by now with all the development time they have had, this may explain why they are not".
Just being devils advocate.

so why have we had no rns to confirm this tey must tell holders,

Doesn't look like new news, i.e. since the placement document. It would be helpful for anyone at the briefing to comment on the explanation for the delays in Greenseal take-up after trials.

Eric

/Mail SEO and ask them if there is any truth in that RF is no ruddy good, your sure to get an honest reply

I see that Tate and Lyle are exploring the full or partial disposal of their European starch operation .Also see on the website a mention of their starches being used for STARPOL.(search starpol)Interesting times.

MP,

Tate & Lyle produces a STARPOL range of starches, nothing to do with SEO's Starpol, though they do have a common link....starch.

http://www.tateandlyle.com/TateAndLyle/products_applications/overview/default.htm?cboCateg=16&cboSubCateg=0&cboApp=0&cboPOS=0&selFuncProp=&txtSearchString=&hdnSubmit=1

http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:SEO.L&display=discussion
From the latest article re the Tesco going green, Asda are mentioned. The last sentence says it all.

Just the fact that it is owned by the US monolith Wal-Mart tends to raise the hackles of environmentalists, but it has set itself bold targets of sending "zero waste to landfill by 2010" and "reducing carbon emissions by 80,000 tonnes by 2007 compared with a 2001 baseline". However, with regards to packaging, the commitments seem a little fuzzier: it says it aims to deliver "absolute reductions in packaging weight by the end of March 2010". Asda's efforts regarding waste reduction were "poor", according to the NCC report.

Saying that, greekman, I got an e-mail that I copied on here from Asda stating that all its own brand vegetables were to be in "green bin friendly" packaging by March (or was it May) 2007.
No idea what that means but the time draws closer. I did ask for clarification and was deafened by the silence.
Alan

Hi Alan,

It appears there are plenty of snippets out there but as you say the silence re solid news is deafening.

Greek.

Even my imaginary friend has adopted the old adage of when there is nowt to say - say nowt.
I have approached Asda asking what exactly they mean by green bin friendly, approached him asking if SEO were still getting the contracts for Asda packaging as he told me they were and approached SEO asking what the hell is going on.
My friend was the only one with the decency to reply and all he could say was he was perplexed by the lengthened timescales because nothing he was aware of had changed.
Alan

Not sure if anyone posted this from the Proseal website:

http://www.prosealuk.com/news_2006_005.php

Trays' success is effectively sealed
RELEASE REF: PRO/2006/005
ISSUE DATE: 3 July 2006

Special contribution for Food Magazine................................
......................
.....The environmental debate also poses a challenge to current heat-sealing technologies. When two different plastics are sealed together (for example polyethylene film onto a polyester tray) the materials need to be laminated first for the sealing to be effective. This makes the materials - notably the skeletal waste - non-recyclable.

Another potential problem for traditional heat sealing methods is that any contamination that gets into the seal can prevent the pack from being closed properly, thus affecting the shelf life of the product and possibly meaning the food is wasted or goes off before its sell-by date. This is a particular problem for products with a high sauce content or where the ingredients include very small items.

Tray sealing manufacturers have therefore been working on the next stage of technology that can address these problems, using Radio Frequency (RF). In our case, we have been working with Stanelco PLC, the RF applications group, in the development of a new RF sealing machine.

Radio Frequency heating works by changing the molecular structure of the materials that are being welded, causing the materials to be heated from the inside out. The technology allows the same material to be used for either a weld seal or a peel seal and with no water-cooling or cooling period required, tool changes can be effected very quickly.

This technology offers an important extension to existing equipment, in particular providing a more effective sealing solution for applications in which the potential for seal contamination is rife and where traditional sealing machines are therefore less effective.

Another benefit of RF heating is that, since it can weld together different materials without the need for lamination, any skeletal waste can be 100% re-used.

As with any emerging technology, RF is still relatively new and further development work will take place in the coming months and years to refine the systems and bring a range of machines to the commercial market. The technology may not be right or appropriate for every application but it will have a valuable role to play alongside traditional heat-sealing systems.

Clearly in an ever developing and increasingly demanding food industry, tray sealing has the flexibility and technology to meet a myriad of requirements. From retailer demands for effective pack presentation and increased product quality to manufacturers' needs for fast, efficient throughput, extended shelf life and reliable seals, tray sealing is proving itself very much a packaging process for today - and tomorrow.