Food Connections Ltd has been engaged in product development, manufacturing, and supply to the food industry since 1992. The company operates a combination of traditional and semi-automated production processes to manufacture a wide product range, with a strong emphasis on process consistency, product quality, and extended shelf-life performance to meet high-throughput market demands.

During a scheduled Planned Preventive Maintenance (PPM) inspection, wear was identified on a set of sealing jaws installed on a horizontal flow wrapping machine used for packaging muffins and cookies.

The sealing jaws are a critical component responsible for achieving consistent heat seals and maintaining packaging integrity. The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for this flow wrapper is no longer in operation, and the specific sealing jaw assembly is obsolete and not commercially available.

To mitigate the risk of unplanned downtime and maintain production continuity, a like-for-like replacement solution was required.

An initial supplier investigation traced the sealing jaw design back to Perfect Seal as the original component developer. Following contact, Food Connections provided legacy technical documentation, including original engineering drawings.

Availability of these drawings eliminated the need for reverse engineering, allowing direct replication to OEM specification. Key advantages included:

• Preservation of original tolerances and geometry
• Reduced lead time compared to re-engineering
• Lower technical risk in integration with existing machinery

After confirming operational requirements (material compatibility, sealing temperatures, cycle rates, and wear characteristics), Perfect Seal proceeded with manufacture of a replacement sealing jaw set in accordance with the original design specification.

The early identification of component wear through PPM avoided reactive maintenance and potential production downtime.

Perfect Seal manufactured and delivered the replacement sealing jaws within a short lead time. The components were installed without modification and operated as intended within the existing flow wrapping system.

This intervention ensured:

• Continued operational reliability of the packaging line
• Elimination of obsolescence risk for this component
• Minimal disruption to production scheduling

“We were completely satisfied with the quality of service from AMP; the new set of jaws was manufactured quickly and efficiently and supplied to us for fitting,” confirmed David Ralph. “The entire process was fast and straightforward, with the team at Perfect Seal keeping us informed at all stages to enable us to prepare for replacement. This company offered excellent personal touches as part of the service, which contributed to the quality of the end product.”