Hamachlava (www.hamachlava.co.il) is a true family company in Israel that produces authentic dairy products, such as Gouda cheese, haloumi cheese and yoghurt, for its home market. What started as a small factory in 1961, founded by two Dutch brothers who emigrated from The Netherlands after the second World War, has become a professional dairy business in 2020. Nowadays, the company employs approximately 40 people and produces 350 tons of dairy products each year. Hamachlava has a broad portfolio, made from cow’s, goat or sheep’s milk. It distributes its products to supermarket chains, local stores and restaurants.
Hamachlava has a long-term and close relationship with our distributor in Israel, Sommerich Agencies. They contacted Sommerich in 2019 for advice on how to optimise and automate their packaging process. Sommerich recommended the SEALPAC PRO thermoformer. A machine with a small footprint, so it would fit in their production hall, but also with a high output, so it would be a future-proof investment. The line was completed by adding a slicer and loading system from Weber, a lane converger from Converging Solutions and a labelling system from Tadbik. After installing the line, Hamachlava started with one production shift a day. But due to shifting market circumstances, among other things the COVID-19 pandemic, the demands changed. More flexibility in running different pack formats, as well as higher outputs were needed. Owing to the thermoformer’s quick exchange system from the side in both forming and sealing station, Hamachlava was able to change to different pack formats with minimum downtime. And by utilizing the remaining capacity of the PRO14, the company is now running three shifts per day. As Mr. Zvi Meyer, owner at Hamachlava, concludes: “Due to the PRO thermoformer we were able to be flexible and adapt rapidly to the changing market circumstances. And we are still optimising processes to be able to scale up production in the near future”.
