Experience the Future of Intelligent Packaging Automation
PACK EXPO provided an exceptional opportunity for the Bradman Lake team to connect with customers, partners, and new prospects while showcasing the innovation, performance, and flexibility behind our integrated packaging solutions. Visitors experienced firsthand how Bradman Lake equipment supports manufacturers across a wide range of applications. Through live demonstrations, installation footage, and customer case studies, attendees saw BradmanLake systems operating successfully in real production environments around the world.
Visitors also explored our cartoning technologies side by side, comparing top-load and end-load solutions while discussing the benefits of each approach with our packaging experts.
Featured on the stand were the HS Carton Former and IL120 Carton Closer, a proven top-load cartoning solution engineered for high-speed performance, flexibility, and reliability. Together, they deliver efficient carton erection and closing, fast changeovers, and the versatility to handle a wide range of carton formats.
The show’s standout attraction was our fully integrated packaging line, featuring the North American debut of the FT-iFLEX Flow Wrapper. Designed for high-mix production environments, the FT-iFLEX combines precision engineering, operational flexibility, and maximum uptime within a modular, future-ready platform. Its architecture also provides backward compatibility with existing Bradman Lake modules, including adaptable sealing options for a wide range of materials and applications.
Seamlessly connected to the Intelligent Motion Loader (IML) and the SL903 End Load Cartoner, the line demonstrated how intelligent automation can maximize productivity, increase flexibility, and improve operational efficiency while reducing downtime and maintenance requirements. This fully connected packaging line showcased how Bradman Lake and Rockwell Automation are advancing intelligent packaging automation.
Featuring iTRAK®, CompactLogix®, ArmorKinetix®, Optix™, and PointMax™ I/O technologies, the system delivers intelligent motion control, real-time visibility, and exceptional operational performance through a unified control architecture.
At the heart of the FT-iFLEX is Rockwell Automation’s small-frame iTRAK® 5730 Intelligent Track System, delivering zero-pressure product infeed, independent product movement, and automatic variable pitch adjustment without mechanical changeovers. By removing the limitations of traditional pitch systems, the FT-iFLEX synchronizes product spacing with film length in real time, ensuring highly accurate product placement and consistently superior seal quality. By precisely matching the velocity of the infeed flight with the material web, iTRAK® enables seamless product transfer, overcoming a key limitation of traditional fixed-pitch wrapping systems while delivering superior product positioning, registration accuracy, and seal quality.
Key advantages include:
- Precise product positioning and premium seal integrity
- Exceptional registration accuracy
- Rapid response to upstream product variation
- Reduced change parts and downtime
- Lower wear and maintenance requirements.
Suitable for food, pharmaceutical, medical, and multipack applications, the FT-iFLEX also features push-button size changeovers and an open-frame hygienic design for improved accessibility and sanitation.
Combined with the IML’s ability to synchronize randomly spaced products and the versatility of the SL903 End Load Cartoner, the line showcased the future of connected packaging automation.
The IML incorporates Rockwell Automation’s medium-frame iTRAK® 5750 Intelligent Track System, it automatically accepts randomly spaced products, collates and synchronizes product flow, and delivers continuous, precision loading into the cartoner. Featuring a low-level carton hopper, it provides a high-performance packaging solution for modern manufacturing environments.
Sustainability remained a key focus throughout the exhibition, with live demonstrations utilizing recyclable packaging materials and energy-efficient technologies designed to reduce waste while supporting manufacturers’ environmental goals.
Thank you to everyone who visited the Bradman Lake stand at PACK EXPO International 2026.
If you missed the show, you can still see this advanced flow-wrapping and cartoning solution in action at the Rockwell Automation Fair in Boston, November 16 to 19. Discover how connected automation, intelligent motion control, and integrated packaging solutions can increase flexibility, maximize productivity, reduce downtime, and support the next generation of manufacturing.
About Bradman Lake
Established in 1948, Bradman Lake provides innovative packaging solutions to an international client base. The company is a leading designer and manufacturer of packing machinery and turnkey systems to the bakery & biscuit, chocolate & confectionery, dry foods, chilled and frozen foods, consumer, pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. In 2022 the company was awarded the prestigious Queens Award for Enterprise. Bradman Lake’s manufacturing plants are located at Beccles and Bristol in the UK and Rock Hill, SC, in the United States. Bradman Lake is a wholly owned subsidiary of the multi-disciplined UK engineering and manufacturing group, Langley Holdings plc.