ACA adds nesting capacity to meet demand from the packaging sector
An additional nesting or carton erecting machine will be installed at postpress specialist ACA next month. The HBJ-D1200 model, supplied by B&H Print Engineers, will be housed in the 5,000 sq ft clean room within the 40,000 sq ft factory adjacent to Glasgow Airport.
Having recently attained its BRCGS certification for primary as well as secondary packaging, ACA anticipates an increase in demand for food-ready cartons. The new nesting machine will enable it to offer a range of simple and firm structured cartons including hamburger boxes, four-corner trays, lunch and take away boxes. These can include flaps, inserted bottoms and lids. 
The HBJ-D1200 can handle up to 320 pieces a minute using pre-printed or plain carton of 200-600gsm or corrugated stock up to 1.5mm thickness. Cartons can be up to 450mm in length, 400mm in width and 200mm in height. The machine consists of a paper feeding unit, paper transfer unit, cold gluing unit, forming unit, collecting unit and control unit.
Jes Crossley, business development manager at ACA, says: “ACA is rapidly expanding in the packaging sector with additional business being generated from existing and new companies within the four nations that make up the UK. As single use packaging goes out of fashion because of sustainability issues we believe that demand for board-based and recyclable nesting for retail and takeaway sectors will increase.”
ACA already has an HBJ-D1200 from B&H Print Engineers and its decision to purchase a second is testament to the machine’s efficiency.
B&H Print Engineers in St Neots is a BPIF member with 40 years’ experience in press engineering and with over 1,000 machine installations worldwide. It is run by director and chief engineer Paul Balazy, the son of the founder.
ACA offers a broad range of added value post-press processes and a dies and forms cutting service. It was the subject of a £6.5m management buyout five years ago and it has had an enviable investment programme in the intervening period. The business is run by directors Dara Changizi and Anton Kaszubowski.