During the IPACK IMA exhibit in Milan, which was held May 18-23, Carle Montanari-OPM (CMOPM) welcomed customers to its Milan production site to showcase cocoa and chocolate processing lines, moulding and packaging machines as well as wrapping machines from its sister company, CMFIMA.

During those six-days, customers were able to view a complete line for chocolate preparation with a capacity of 1,100 kg/h. The line consisted of a PNMC-75 chocolate mixer, a HCP 209 pre-refiner, two HFI 518 five-roll refiners with MICRONSENSE and an ALPHA 6 single-shaft conch.

Thanks to a time-lapse video, guests were also able to see the transformation of an old HB 1800 refiner into a fully refurbished five-roll refiner, which was also on display.

Just before the refurbished five-roll refiner, there was a POV 540/14 horizontal cocoa press, specifically designed for pressing cocoa liquor for the extraction of cocoa butter, with a cocoa mass loading capacity of about 1,000 kg/h.

In the moulding equipment area, there were two CORE completely removable and modular moulding depositors. These electronically driven depositors have dosing groups that are assembled on sliding guides for easy removal for cleaning and replacement.

In the primary packaging area, guests could find a JT PRO horizontal flow-wrapper that was fed by a Fast Picker cell capable of operating at 100 cycles/min per each robot.

In the secondary packaging area, there were two machines: a TLP300 trifunctional cell from the new TLP series, presented here in one of its multiple configurations (customers can choose from different kinds of mono- bi- or trifunctional cells, selecting robot equipment, forming and closing options) and a WA100, a modular wrap-around machine, compact and easily accessible from all sides. The WA100 can guarantee top performances at high speeds while its ergonomic blank dispenser allows easy loading and quick changeovers.

In the wrapping area, CMFIMA exhibited a VPACK2 CB4 RF, the last unit in a series of well-known machines from the V-Pack series. This wrapper was designed to package bars in envelope style at high speeds (up to 450 ppm) featuring a long side leading feed mode.

 However, thanks to its flexibility, the unit can also wrap pralines even in wallet, bunch and double-twist styles with a short change-over time.

In the lab area, guests could find the BETA X tempering machine with its advanced Smart-Temp System and the AERO CORE, a depositor for aerated masses, based on the Always-In-Line-Pistons (AILP) technology (patent-pending), which eliminates pressure drops caused by changes of direction of material flow.