The Hershey Company gave Rovema North America an innovation award for supporting its introduction of Doy-type standup pouches for candy.

The project involved multiple models of Rovema’s BVC Flex Machines, continuous motion vertical form, fill and seal units that also can make pillow, gusseted and quad bags with or without zippers.

Rovema developed the series of machines to make Doy-style bags on vertical units as appealing as ones made by HFFS counterparts, the company says in its award announcement.

Hershey’s gave Rovema its 2019 Supplier Excellence Award for Innovation at the confectionery company’s annual supplier summit.

VFFS machines have other advantages, including reduced operating cost, more flexibility and small footprint. The machines offer:

• Product stripping—the seal jaws gently push product further into the bag for a better fill ratio, ensuring no product is in the seal area.
• Sense and Seal detection—stops product from getting stuck in the seal jaws, preventing damage to the cutting knife and seal jaw.
• Premium Seal—two-stage pressure improves sealing of challenging, multilayer structures. The sealant layer is preheated before final sealing.

Rovema delivered multiple machines to the chocolate company in a short time and provided onsite support at multiple locations to ensure a smooth launch. The company relocated a service technician to the Hershey area to respond to concerns and provide training.