Established in 2001 and headquartered in Castellón, Spain, Innova Group specialises in end-of-line strapping and wrapping, packaging machinery including its Stretch Hood system.

Unique to the UK market, the Stretch Hood system guarantees total protection against humidity, rain and dust due to the tightness of the wrapping and properties of the Stretch Hood film, which envelopes palletised products from above to the base.

As well as being the only system that delivers completely waterproof protection, Stretch Hood uses the minimal amount of film possible, reducing material and energy costs.

Until now, Innova has focused on North America, Mexico and Brazil but turned its attention to the UK after another Spanish packaging machinery manufacturer – TMI Sl – introduced the company to Nick Cesare at PACE Mechanical Handling.

“We have been representing TMI in the UK since June 2022. I think Innova was impressed with how we’ve gone about introducing TMI’s ILERBOX system to the UK and thought we might be able to do the same with the Stretch Hood system,” says Nick. “Stretch Hood is unlike anything else available in the UK, and we are confident it will replace traditional stretch wrappers due to the way it protects products and reduces both film and energy use. We think it will be popular with packers of all sizes across several sectors, including agriculture, food and beverages, chemicals and cement.

“Stretch Hood complements our range of robotic and automated packing lines in the same way as ILERBOX does, so we are very excited to be appointed as the sole representative for Innova in the UK.”

Commenting on PACE’s appointment, Sergio Llido, CEO of Innova Group, says:

“For Innova, the UK is a strategic market, and we needed an experienced partner to work with. We chose PACE for their experience, technical team, market know-how, and all their expertise in packaging and end-of-line projects. Nobody understands the needs of English customers in packaging better than PACE.”

Stretch Hood is the only system that prepares the film precisely to the size of the load to be packaged. The tubular film is slightly smaller than the contour of the load as the Stretch Hood machine stretches and applies the film to fit the dimensions of the load, sealing it completely.

Innova says that the film used by the Stretch Hood system is one of the most advanced materials available, being a multilayer LLPDE polymer composition, offering waterproof protection and exceptional stretching capabilities.

PACE Mechanical Handling has been at the forefront of robotic and automated end-of-line packaging solutions since 1996. The company, based near Spalding in Lincolnshire, specialises in designing and integrating robotic handling solutions to increase productivity.

Thanks to its long-standing partnership with Motoman of Japan, PACE Mechanical Handling offers a wide of robots, from pick and place up to specialist heavy lifting models. With its own fabricators and software engineers and extensive experience in designing and installing complete production lines, Nick and his team can deliver everything from a small automated packing robot to a complete turnkey solution.

For further information about Innova Group and Stretch Hood, visit https://en.innovamaquinaria.com/stretch-hood/, and to learn more about PACE Mechanical Handling, visit www.robotpalletizing.co.uk