TAUNTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 20, 2026--
Harpak-ULMA announced a new application of the Mondini Trave Sinfonia® tray-sealing platform designed explicitly for high-volume ground-meat production. The solution delivers a higher-output, fully automated alternative to conventional tray-sealing methods — setting a new performance benchmark for producers.
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Sinfonia can effectively double throughput compared to typical mechanical grind-line tray sealers, increasing output from roughly 120 packs per minute to as high as 200 packs per minute. Sinfonia's software-controlled magnetic-transport architecture delivers this dramatic performance advantage by moving trays on independent shuttles with micron-level accuracy. The innovative design eliminates belts, pusher arms, and other friction-based components that typically constrain sealing speed, especially in low-oxygen MAP applications.
Although the Sinfonia system was introduced in 2023, this marks its first application for grind-line environments, where tray control, contamination, and mechanical indexing have long limited achievable speeds.
"The competitive ceiling for grind-line tray sealing is around 120 ppm. With Sinfonia, we can engineer a 200-ppm grind line—almost a 100% throughput increase," said Carlo Bergonzi, Product Manager, Tray Sealing at Harpak-ULMA. "Sinfonia fundamentally changes what's possible in ground-meat tray-sealed packaging," he added. "By controlling each tray independently, we remove the mechanical constraints that typically dictate line speed. The result is a faster, cleaner, and far more stable tray-sealing process that simply isn't achievable with conventional systems. Given the momentum behind meat-brick formats across major retailers, this application directly addresses the performance conversations we’re hearing from processors as they head into IPPE 2026.”
The new configuration integrates portioning, dual denesting, retractable conveyor loading, and a 14-up sealing array — enabling each processing station to run at its optimal rate without being limited by fixed-pitch conveyor mechanics. With the new Sinfonia application, producers gain a consistent, contamination-resistant tray path and simplified changeovers in a compact footprint. In contrast, competitive systems rely on mechanical indexing systems that cannot independently control tray motion. Comparable throughput levels are not currently achievable using traditional technologies.
For more information, visit www.harpak-ulma.com/equipment/trave-sinfonia/ or call (508) 884-2500. Experience a live demonstration at one of Harpak-ULMA's Customer Experience Centers in Boston, Atlanta, or Costa Mesa, Calif. —call (508) 884-2500 to make arrangements. Visit Harpak-ULMA at IPPE, Jan. 27–29, 2026, in Atlanta at Booths BC43109 & BC45111.
About Harpak-ULMA
Harpak-ULMA Packaging is the North American arm of ULMA, a $1B industry leader in complete automated packaging line solutions for food, medical, and industrial products. Harpak-ULMA provides smart, connected packaging systems, including tray sealing, thermoforming, horizontal ffs, vertical ffs, flow wrapping, multihead weighing, robotic loading and unloading systems, metal detection, x-ray, checkweighing, labeling, vision inspection, cartoning, sleeving, case packing, and palletizing. These systems form the backbone of complete, integrated lines that reduce customers' total cost of ownership, address the challenges of an aging, scarce workforce, and improve maintenance and operations via Harpak-ULMA's extensive service offerings, 24/7 support, and competitive parts sourcing with same-day shipping. In addition, Harpak-ULMA represents G. Mondini tray sealers and Cabinplant's advanced weighing systems and complementary processing solutions in the United States and Canada. Since joining the Rockwell Automation Partner Network in 2018, Harpak-ULMA has leveraged Rockwell's controls and information platforms to deliver greater efficiency, uptime, throughput, and package quality — while reducing waste.
Harpak-ULMA’s Mondini Trave Sinfonia® platform introduces a higher-output, fully automated tray-sealing solution—setting a new performance benchmark for high-volume ground-meat production. Using software-controlled magnetic shuttles to independently move each tray, the belt- and pusher-free system enables oversized sealing arrays and breakthrough throughput, effectively doubling output from approximately 120 to up to 200 packs per minute compared with conventional grind-line tray sealers. The Sinfonia can be customized to meet a variety of customer-specific applications, from meat, poultry, and seafood to produce, snacks, ready meals, and dairy.
NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Beltrán fielded a question about the impact of his role in the Houston Astros' cheating scandal as deftly as he grabbed so many balls hit to him in center field.
“There's no doubt that the Astros situation has been a topic,” he said. “I feel like a lot of times there are agendas that are not positive toward my way. ... There's no doubt that in baseball you're going to go through ups and downs in life. You're going to make good decisions, so-so decisions, right, and also you're going to make bad decisions.”
Beltrán was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Tuesday along with Andruw Jones, center fielders born one day apart who excelled at the plate and with their gloves.
Making his fourth appearance of the ballot, Beltrán received 358 of 425 votes for 84.2% from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, 39 above the 319 needed for the 75% threshold. Jones, in the ninth of 10 possible appearances, was picked on 333 ballots for 78.4%.
Beltrán moved up steadily from 46.5% in 2023 to 57.1% the following year and 70.3% in 2025, when he fell 19 votes short as Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected.
Beltrán was hired as the New York Mets' manager on Nov. 1, 2019, then fired on Jan. 16, 2020, without having managed a game. New York announced its decision three days after he was the only Astros player mentioned by name in a report by Major League Baseball regarding the team’s illicit use of electronics to steal signs during Houston’s run to the 2017 World Series championship — his final season.
He was hired by the Mets as a special assistant to the general manager in February 2023.
“When I retired from baseball, I thought that everything that I built in the game of baseball, like relationships and the good people that I was I able to relate myself with, I thought that was going to be lost, right?” he said. “And being back in the game of baseball, I still receive love from the people. I still receive love from the players. The teammates that I had inside the clubhouse, they know the type of person that I am. But at the same time I understand that that's also a story that I have to deal with.”
Beltrán and Jones will be inducted in Cooperstown, New York, on July 26 along with second baseman Jeff Kent, voted in last month by the contemporary era committee. Jones was born on April 23, 1977, and Beltrán one day later.
“Competing against each other for so many years it’s just a great honor to be in the same elite group with him,” Jones said.
Jones received just 7.3% in his first appearance in 2018 and didn’t get half the total until receiving 58.1% in 2023. He increased to 61.6% and 66.2%, falling 35 votes short last year.
“The first year I heard a lot of my friends were telling me, you barely made it, you’re barely hanging there,” Jones said.
BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years in the organization were eligible to vote.
Chase Utley (59.1%) was the only other candidate to get at least half the vote, improving from 39.8% last year. He was followed by Andy Pettitte at 48.5%, an increase from 27.9% last year, and Félix Hernández at 46.1%, up from 20.6%.
Cole Hamels topped first-time candidates at 23.8%. The other first-time players were all under 5% and will be dropped from future votes.
Steroids-tainted players again were kept from the hall. Alex Rodriguez received 40% in his fifth appearance, up from 37.1%, and Manny Ramirez 38.8% in his 10th and final appearance.
David Wright increased to 14.8% from 8.1%.
There were 11 blank ballots.
A nine-time All-Star, the switch-hitting Beltrán batted .279 with 435 homers and 1,587 RBIs over 20 seasons with Kansas City (1999-2004), Houston (2004, ’17), the Mets (2005-11), San Francisco (2011), St. Louis (2012-13), the New York Yankees (20014-16) and Texas (2016). He had 124 homers hitting right-handed and 311 batting left — crediting coach Kevin Long for his left-handed success.
Beltrán was the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year and won three Gold Gloves, also hitting .307 in the postseason with 16 homers and 42 RBIs in 65 games.
While the hall makes the decision on the cap for his plaque, Beltrán said: “There's no doubt that the Mets are a big part of my identity.”
He still has managerial aspirations.
“In order for you to have opportunities in baseball, you have to stay relevant, you have stay in the game,” Beltrán said. “Managing is something that I would love to try it at some point.”
Jones batted .254 with 434 homers, 1,289 RBIs and 152 stolen bases in 17 seasons with Atlanta (1996-2007), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2008), Texas (2009), the Chicago White Sox (2010) and the Yankees (2011-12). He finished his career with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Pacific League from 2013-14.
His batting average is the second-lowest for a position player voted to the Hall of Fame, just above the .253 of Ray Schalk, a superior defensive catcher, and just below the .256 of Harmon Killebrew, who hit 573 homers.
A five-time All-Star, Jones earned 10 Gold Gloves. He joins Braves teammates Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones and Fred McGriff in the hall along with manager Bobby Cox.
In the 1996 World Series opener at Yankee Stadium, Jones at 19 years, 5 months became the youngest player to homer in a Series game, beating Mickey Mantle’s old mark by 18 months. Going deep against Pettitte in the second inning and Brian Boehringer in the third of a 12-1 rout, Jones became the second player to homer in his first two Series at-bats after Gene Tenace in 1972.
“I didn’t play this game to be Hall of Famer,” Jones said. “I played this game too to help my team win.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
FILE - New York Mets' Carlos Beltran smiles during an introductory baseball news conference in New York, Nov. 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
FILE - Former Atlanta Braves player Andruw Jones walks on the field as his number is retired Sept. 9, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
FILE - Atlanta Braves' Andruw Jones watches his home run in front of New York Yankees' catcher Jim Leyritz in the second inning of the World Series on Oct. 20, 1996, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
FILE - Texas Rangers' Carlos Beltran follows through on a two-run home run swing as Los Angeles Angels catcher Carlos Perez watches in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sept. 21, 2016, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
