Shawpak goes big with new rotary thermoformer

By Bruce Geiselman 

Shawpak has beefed up its line of rotary thermoforming machines with the SP-82-20 model for producing large trays. 

Shawpak, the engineering division of Riverside Medical Packaging Co. Ltd., Derby, England, specializes in compact thermoforming machines for medical packagers. Its rotary thermoformers form, fill and seal both rigid and flexible packs from any type of plastic film. 

The SP-82-20 can produce flexible packaging measuring up to 2.6 feet by 7.9 inches by 3.9 inches thick, according to the company. The maximum die-cut size for rigid packaging is 2.6 feet by 7.1 inches by 3.1 inches. 

It joins the SP-32-20, the SP-42-25 and the SP-62-25 models, which produce smaller packages. 

One of Shawpak’s customers needed to produce rigid blister trays larger than the company’s existing machines could accommodate. The customer needed to make a tray about 2.2 feet long. 

“A California-based company that has some of our other machines came to us and asked if we were able to make a compact machine to do a big, heavy-gauge tray,” said Tony Crofts, Shawpak sales and marketing director. “We produced it for them, but there is a commercial opportunity for us to sell that machine to others.” 

Shawpak’s SP-82-20 thermoformer is more compact than competitors’ linear machines that can measure 40 feet to 45 feet long and are unable to produce packaging as large as the SP 82-20, Croft said. The new machine measures 5.9 feet long by 4.8 feet wide by 3.4 feet high, the company said. 

“Our machine is very compact and ideal for placing inside robotic cells,” Crofts said. 

A traditional thermoforming line has multiple stations where different operations are performed as the web is carried through the machine. However, Shawpak’s system uses a drum that rotates counterclockwise. Film feeds into the machine and is formed at the 3 o’clock position. Product is loaded into the packaging at 12 o’clock. Sealing takes place at 9 o’clock. After rotating slightly, any cross cutting and perforating take place, and at 6 o’clock, the packaged product is removed from the drum. 

The SP-82-20 can produce a maximum of 160 packs per hour. 

Shawpak is now selling its machines through Shawpak USA, based in San Diego. The company established the California office in 2019, but it remained dormant because of the pandemic, Crofts said. Within the past six months, the California office opened and has established a showroom where machines can be demonstrated. 

Riverside Medical manufactures blister packs in England and developed thermoforming machines for its own use. It now sells the equipment to other companies. 

Contact: 

Shawpak USA, San Diego, 973-281-2960, www.shawpakusa.com