—Precision Thermoforming with Better Control and Higher Output Delivers an Immediate Impact –
TAUNTON, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#automatedpackaging–Harpak-ULMA today announced the North American release of the ULMA TFX thermoformer, a next‑generation smart platform engineered to help food, medical and consumer packaged goods producers achieve higher throughput, enhanced package quality, and stronger sustainability performance. The TFX boasts multiple performance-enhancing innovations designed to reduce cycle time, stabilize process variation, and support the use of recyclable packaging materials.
ULMA designed its new range of high-performance TFX thermoformers to tackle some of today’s most demanding food and medical packaging challenges — including production efficiency, sustainability, digitalization, and process repeatability. The TFX delivers synchronized high-speed performance, superior packaging quality, rapid error-proofed changeovers, intuitive operation, sustainable film, optimized materials usage, and smart, data-driven production management. It was engineered from the ground up to maximize efficiency, uptime, and environmental responsibility across modern packaging lines.
The TFX line leverages optimized motion coordination and a redesigned vacuum system that shortens evacuation time — enabling faster, more predictable cycles for high-volume applications that can accelerate vacuum performance by up to 20 percent. These improvements are especially significant for producers packaging standardized “Brick-Packs,” a format rapidly expanding across major retailers. Packaged meat bricks require precise forming, rapid evacuation, and repeatable sealing to maintain their rigid geometry and minimize purge — making cycle-time stability and vacuum efficiency critical drivers of throughput and package integrity.
The TFX also integrates ULMA’s advanced forming (Better Form XTM) and sealing (Better Seal XTM) technologies, making it capable of running thinner base films without sacrificing package strength or integrity. This is particularly valuable for meat-brick applications, which rely on deep, dimensionally consistent forming and robust seals to maintain shape. Running thinner, recyclable materials without compromising rigidity allows processors to reduce plastic consumption while maintaining the visual appeal and durability expected by retailers and club store shoppers. This capability supports processors seeking reductions in plastic consumption and improved sustainability metrics.
Other advanced capabilities include automated film alignment, zone-specific heating, and constant-atmosphere sealing controls — features designed to improve first-pass yield and reduce rework. In meat-brick production, even minor film wander, uneven heating, or seal variation can result in notable deformation or purge leakage. Automated alignment and precision heating help ensure every brick maintains its crisp, consistent profile — essential for stacking, case packing, and warehouse-club merchandising. On-board tools such as RFID format verification, and recipe-driven digital control accelerate changeovers while reducing operator error.
Centralized recipe control allows operators to auto-adjust settings based on production orders, while built-in monitoring tools track usage of film, electricity, air, and gas by shift or batch. At the end of each run, the system generates a detailed PDF report, giving manufacturers a comprehensive view of production performance. This enables producers to pinpoint waste, validate sustainability improvements, and support continuous improvement initiatives. For meat-brick processors running extremely high volumes with tight retail cost-to-produce pressures, such insights help quantify the financial benefits of precision forming, reduced vacuum times, and lower material use — giving operations teams clear visibility into the true cost of each packaged unit. These digital records also support documentation requirements common in medical manufacturing, providing traceable, repeatable production data that can be leveraged during process validation and audit. This unique combination of innovative technologies delivers a thermoforming platform engineered for a new era of packaging automation and performance — one that helps processors unlock hidden line capacity, enhance product quality, and achieve more sustainable operations.
For more information, https://www.harpak-ulma.com/equipment/tfx-thermoformer/ or call (508) 884-2500. Experience a live demonstration at one of Harpak-ULMA’s Customer Experience Centers in Boston, Atlanta, or Costa Mesa, Calif. Call (508) 884-2500 to make arrangements.
About Harpak-ULMA
Harpak-ULMA Packaging is the North American arm of ULMA, a $1B industry leader in complete automated packaging line solutions for food, medical, and industrial products. Harpak-ULMA provides smart, connected packaging systems including tray sealing, thermoforming, horizontal ffs, vertical ffs, flow wrapping, multihead weighing, wet and dry filling systems, robotic loading and unloading systems, metal detection, x-ray, checkweighing, labeling, vision inspection, cartoning, sleeving, case packing, and palletizing. These systems form the backbone of complete, integrated lines that reduce customers’ total cost of ownership, address the challenges of an aging, scarce workforce, and improve maintenance and operations via Harpak-ULMA’s extensive service offerings and 24/7 support, and competitive parts sourcing with same-day shipping. In addition, Harpak-ULMA represents G. Mondini tray sealers and Cabinplant’s advanced weighing systems and complementary processing solutions in the United States and Canada. Since joining the Rockwell Automation Partner Network in 2018, Harpak-ULMA has leveraged Rockwell’s controls and information platforms to deliver greater efficiency, uptime, throughput, and package quality — while reducing waste.
Contacts
Note to Editors:
Press: Joshua Allen
Harpak-ULMA
508-884-2500
[email protected]
