IDM ¦ Packaging
Packing of round jars with a volume of 250, 400,
500 and 750 ml in the pack format 2 x 3.
vacuum check system especially for us which they integrated in the
infeed. This system is used to eject the jars that lose their vacuum
in the cooling tunnel.”
The jars to be processed are transported from the buffer table
to the packer in a single lane. A distributer system then conducts
the jars from one lane to two lanes in the machine infeed. As a
next step the jars are put into groups of 2 x 3 jars according to the
pack format and moved onto the prefolded carton blank. In this
process, a special holding system secures the grouping pattern.
The carton blank is then folded around the jars and glued.
Reduced setup time
The packing process is for round jars with volumes of 250, 400,
500 and 750 ml. A specific carton blank is used for each jar type,
i.e. there are altogether four carton blanks in use. In the new line
the cartons are also to be adapted to the product. “This means a
further increase in the variety to be processed. A+F has already
tested this successfully”, says Lechner. With the new cartoner the
actual set-up time is reduced to just about fifteen minutes per format.
This makes it possible for Rapunzel to first change over and
clean all upstream stations. “In this way, we can start the line up
again before bothering about the cartoner. Our employees then
have more time for the more complex work“, says Lechner, summing
up the advantages.
Up to 120 jars per minute
The upgraded line 1 operates with an average output of 50 jars per
minute. By comparison: the specified output of the wrap-around
packer is 7,200 jars per hour. With a pack format of 2 x 3 jars this
amounts to 1,200 cartons per hour or 20 cycles or 120 jars per minute.
The question that arises here is: why did Rapunzel invest in a
higher output than was actually required? Lechner goes on to explain:
“Rapunzel just wanted to have the same machine in both lines.
Here the key words are operation and maintenance. And in the new
line we are certainly going to need the 120 jars per minute.”
14 · May/June 2022 ¦ international-dairy.com
A vacuum checking system specifically developed
for Rapunzel, which automatically ejects any jar
that is not tightly sealed.
Florian Lechner, machine operator and team leader
of Production is fully satisfied with the project.
Condition Monitoring
Another identical feature is that both wrap-around packers boast
the Condition Monitoring module. Condition Monitoring automatically
records comprehensive data from the production, machine
and machine environment. This also applies to status messages,
warnings and machine malfunctions as well as production data.
All of this data is stored on a stand-alone industrial PC, archived
and displayed on a dashboard that can be accessed using any upto
date browser. The system architecture can thus be integrated
into a company network without the need for additional hardware.
“I have already used this option to specifically analyse the
performance of line 1,” says Lechner. And with a very positive result
for Rapunzel: “When the preliminary processes are all running
well we have a significant increase in performance of up to twenty
percent. We can therefore now increase the filling capacity because
the packaging step no longer limits us as it did before.” Does
this positive effect translate into an equally positive overall bottom
line? Lechner agrees: “We are very satisfied in every respect.”
/international-dairy.com
