With increased snack food demand in 2020, pouching systems have been a  popular choice for machinery due in part to the pandemic and people spending  more time at home. At PACK EXPO Connects, PPi Technologies Group showcased  the new SN FME 50, a small footprint horizontal form,  fill, seal (HFFS) machine designed for short lead times and an entry level  price point for end users packaging snack foods, gummies, herbs, spices,  powdery products, lotions and more.    
Thom Cain,  sales support manager at PPi, says that for the past few years, the  industry has seen a push to run thinner, monomaterial films because  multi-layer films aren’t easy to recycle. “But if a machine is not designed to  run that material, it can rip.” With package sustainability in  mind, the SN FME 50 is designed to run recyclable films, pulling evenly to  avoid tears without sacrificing speed. 
The  system runs at speeds up to 100 pouches/min, and is capable of format  changeover (toolless, as much as possible) in less than 15 minutes.  With a small footprint of approximately 12.0’ x 4.10' x 6.6', the  system doesn’t require much space to get up new packaging up and running.
With an  added multi-head weigher (from a scale vendor) the machine can run gummies,  which have seen increased demand in the nutraceutical and cannabis industries.
Delivery  speed is a main feature of the SN FME 50—remote installation can be  completed in a few days.
- See the live demo Tues, November 10 – 12:45 PM - 1:00 PM CT.
 - The  company is also showcasing its SN FM 060 125 system,  an HFFS system with basic, premium and washdown variants. (Demo: Mon,  November 9  – 12:30 PM - 12:45 PM Central Time (US & Canada)