Brown Machine LLC of Beaverton, Mich., is looking to serve the world's increased appetite for ready-to-eat meals with thermoforming equipment that molds the packaging used for food display, protection and preparation.
The 64-year-old business is at Plastimagen promoting the latest in its Quad series of thermoformers, which the company describes as “tougher” and “beefier,” as well as its Elite series of trimmers, which was updated in 2015 for faster production and changeover times.
“Latin American markets continue to develop, particularly in the disposable polypropylene food and beverage markets,” Bob Gordert, Brown's director of sales, said in an email to Plastics News. “With this demand comes the need for increased production and output. Brown Machine is excited to be the proven provider and partner to fulfill these needs.”
In addition to PP, Brown thermoformers produce packaging in a variety of materials, including polystyrene foam, high-impact PS, oriented PS, polylactic acid and PET — amorphous, recycled and crystalline — for everything from egg cartons and yogurt containers to fruits and vegetables in clear containers for seeing freshness to microwavable food to disposable to plates, cups and lids.
Unveiled in 2009, the Quad series brought a new element to the thermoforming process with high-tonnage coining and virtually no deflection, which gave product makers new forming capabilities, according to the company. It was an immediate success, Gordert said.
Then, three years later, based on field data, Brown increased the thickness and height of the upper and lower forming heads, increased the thickness of the platens and redesigned the drive arms. The result is 180 coining tons and 260 tons of maximum station strength.
To complement the Quad series, Brown engineers focused on improving trim press capabilities. Last year the company launched its Elite series of servo-driven, horizontal trim presses, which are capable of speeds that exceed 175 stokes per minute and changeover times of less than 30 minutes.
“We manufacture the highest output, turn-key thermoforming systems available in the market place today,” Gordert said. “Our Quad series thermoformers combined with Elite series trim presses offer unparalleled performance in speed, consistency and efficiency.”
Also in 2015, Brown Machines added 13,000 square feet to its headquarters in central Michigan and nearly doubled the high-bay assembly area for putting together its thermoformers, trim presses and lip rollers. Equipment from Brown Machine is operating in more than 65 countries. The business is owned by Spell Capital Partners LLC.
