Bosch Packaging Technology / Kliklok-Woodman

Packaging Frozen Foods for 60+ Years

During the period of canned food rationing in the United States during World War II, frozen food packaged in paperboard cartons became a necessity. After the war, its convenience and lower cost kept the concept alive, and the new Kliklok Corporation was right there, with fully automatic cartoning machines that could package all kinds of frozen foods. As the popularity of frozen foods increased through the 1950s and ’60s, Kliklok cartoning machines packaged the first TV dinners, frozen fish sticks, pizzas, ice cream and novelties – and the companies that are still around are still our customers!

As different types of foods were brought to the frozen food market, some required very unique packaging – and machinery – to be developed. Pioneering the advancement of packaging technology, Kliklok carton designers and machinery engineers in collaboration with paperboard converters developed many of the cartoning innovations of the time. For years and years, Kliklok cartoning machinery has been packaging all these frozen favorites:

Topload Carton Formers and Closers:

• Breakfast: sausages, sandwiches
• Appetizers and Snacks: pizza rolls, corn dogs, egg rolls, croquettes
• Sides: veggies, rice dishes, fries (with crisping technology)
• Meats: burger patties, chicken wings and nuggets, meat alternatives
• Mains: chicken cordon bleu, pierogis, meal combos
• Seafood: (mostly breaded) fish sticks and filets, popcorn shrimp
• Dessert: ice cream sandwiches and bars, popsicles, pastries, novelties, pie slices

Endload Cartoners:

• Breakfast: waffles, pancakes, bowls
• Appetizers and Snacks: mini quiches, bagel bites, mini pizzas
• Meats: burger and sausage patties
• Mains: single-serve entrees, family-size dishes, pizza
• Dessert: pies and cakes

Wraparound Cartoners (Sleevers):

• Ice cream

The Woodman Apache VFFS bagmaker has been used to bag mini frozen pancakes, little biscuits and garlic knots. Bosch washdown bagmakers are excellent for bagging frozen meats and seafood, and vegetables and fruit.

About the Company

Kliklok Corporation was incorporated in 1947, after developing the first locking corner tab for folding cartons and a machine to automatically form the cartons. The Dan Woodman Company, an engineering firm, was founded earlier. In 1947 it developed the first machine to automatically weigh and bag potato chips. Kliklok purchased the Woodman Company in the late 1960s, and eventually moved to the Woodman Company’s location in Decatur, Georgia (still here!).

Bosch Packaging Technology acquired Kliklok-Woodman and Kliklok International in December 2016.

Bosch Packaging Technology in Decatur, Georgia, manufactures Kliklok and Woodman secondary and primary packaging machinery. We build Kliklok topload carton formers and closers, horizontal endload cartoners, and associated product handling equipment for products in primary packaging. We also build Woodman vertical form-fill-seal bagmakers, multi-bag balers, as well as infeed and pack-off equipment. At our facility in Bristol, UK, we manufacture Kliklok topload and endload cartoning machines, plus wraparound cartoners (sleevers) and associated product handling equipment.

The core industries we serve are: frozen food, refrigerated and prepared foods, bakery, snack, cereal, confectionery, and related industries.

Based in Waiblingen, Germany, and employing 6,200 associates, the Bosch Packaging Technology division is one of the leading suppliers of process and packaging technology. At over 30 locations in more than 15 countries worldwide, a highly qualified workforce develops and produces complete solutions for the pharmaceutical, food, and confectionery industries. These solutions are complemented by a comprehensive after-sales service portfolio. A global service and sales network provides customers with local points of contact.

For the confectionery, food and related industries we offer a product portfolio ranging from entry-level machines to fully integrated systems. As a single-source supplier of processing and automation technology, as well as primary and secondary packaging technology, our mission is to support customers in creating sustainable solutions with market-leading technologies.

Bosch also supplies solutions for the packaging of sensitive liquid and viscous foods such as dairy products and baby nutrition. The highly hygienic technologies allow the thermoforming, filling and closing of cups, the filling and sealing of pre-made cups and bottles as well as the blow-molding and filling of PET bottles. Especially for dry high quality products, Bosch offers modular vertical form, fill and seal machines, package makers and product protection solutions like valves.