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For mid-speed wrapping, is it
One reel or two?Shrink-wrapping is certainly not alone
among major packaging operations inoffering a choice between intermittent and con-tinuous-motion alternatives. But with shrink-wrapping, particularly fierce competition,shifts in retailer demands and perceived issuesabout final pack quality have enlivened theindustry debate.
On the one hand, there are the suppliers ofthose twin-reel (intermittent-motion) machineswhich still account for the bulk of UK manu-facturing’s installed base; on the other, thosechallenging this established market withmedium-speed single-reel (continuous-motion)machines.
As the UK representative of the US-basedStrategic Group and its Rochman range ofmachines, Yorkshire Packaging Systems (YPS)does have a single-reel machine that it can offercustomers. But according to sales director GlynJohnson, this is a completely different marketsegment, and demand in the UK is overwhelm-ingly for twin-reel machines.
Johnson reckons that twin-reel still accountsfor some 80 per cent or even 90 per cent ofindustry requirements in the UK. He sketchesout the pyramid structure of this market, withthe high-speed machines from the likes ofKisters and Kettner near the apex of the trian-gle, a small number of mid-range, medium-speed, single-reel machines below that, andthen the mass of installed twin-reel machines.
As he puts it: “Single reel machines aredesigned for speed, and offer greater controlwhen it comes to film registration, for exam-ple.” And he paints a picture where, at some£200,000 a go, the top-of-the-range, high-out-put single-reel machines cost eight or even tentimes as much as a twin-reel machine.
At Aetna UK, chairman Barry Tucker agreesthat the market “is split in two in quite a defin-able way”. But, he says, as users of twin-reelsystems come to replace their current
machines, some 75 per cent of them in the 20packs a minute plus bracket will begin to lookat single-reel as an option.
“For the majority of packers doing more than20 or 25 packs a minute, it would make sense togo single-reel,” he maintains. “There are noweconomy single-reel systems costing as little as£45,000 including the shrink tunnel. A decenttwin-reel system plus tunnel would cost youmore than that.”
Prices fallingPrices for single-reel systems have been fallingover recent years, says Mr Tucker, although thisprocess may well have gone as far as it can. Infact, since like other machines they are at themercy of world steel prices, they may well startto become more expensive, he points out.
He admits that the price lists for manually-fed twin-reel systems at the 10-15ppm end ofthe market do reach down much lower than the£45,000 he quotes. But he claims that, when itcomes to food and drink containers that can be
handled automatically, manufacturers of twin-reel machines are having a hard time establish-ing a replacement market for themselves in this“middle ground”.
Barry Tucker argues that the efficiency ofsingle-reel systems is far greater than twin-reelwhich, when tray-loading is included, canrequire up to four different machines. “Withsingle-reel, it’s all done in-line,” he points out.“There’s a huge difference in efficiency betweenthe two.”
UK machinery manufacturer Europack cansupply single-reel as well as twin-reel systems,but sees the greatest potential overwhelminglyin the twin-reel segment of the market.
Indeed, sales director Ivan Reeve putsEuropack’s ratio of intermittent-motion to con-tinuous-motion sales at around 3:1. He agreesthat there is a cut-off point between the twotypes of technology somewhere in the 20-30ppm range, but in this key area of the mar-ket, a lot can hinge on throughput differences ofjust five packs a minute.
CONTINUOUS-MOTION, SINGLE-REEL SHRINK-WRAPPING MAY HAVE THE CACHET, BUT THE
TWIN-REEL ALTERNATIVE HAS THE TRACK RECORD AND, IN MANY CASES, CORNERS THE
COST BENEFITS. PAUL GANDER TALKS TO SUPPLIERS OF BOTH TYPES OF MACHINERY.
Single reel option: SR continuous motion wrapper from Europack
Europack generally favours the twin-reelapproach up to around 30 packs a minute,explains Ivan Reeve, adding: “We look at it onthe basis of product stability. So if the itembeing shrink-wrapped doesn’t like intermittentmotion, that might change our mind. But youcertainly wouldn’t venture below 25 packs aminute.”
The length of the line will be a key considera-tion for a packer running at around the 25packs a minute mark, Mr Reeve believes.
His estimate puts the length of a tray/wrap-around single-reel line plus shrink tunnel at upto 15 metres, while a slower twin-reel system,including a shorter shrink tunnel, may cut 5 or6 metres off that figure. What he calls a “moreforgiving” film feed system, where lengths offilm are fed and cut before being sealed aroundthe product, may also add to the size of a single-reel line.
A customer may simply not appreciate thesevital space requirements when weighing upwhich type of line to buy, he warns.
Europack’s differential costings for continu-ous and intermittent-motion shrink-wrappingtend to fall in the mid-range. Ivan Reeve talksabout a “30 per cent on-cost for continuousmotion” although, when it comes to machineprice versus cost of ownership, this on-cost isabsorbed on average, he calculates, at speeds of30 packs a minute and above.
Debating downtimeClearly, advocates on both sides of the single-reel/twin-reel divide emphasise differentaspects of the subject.
With twice the amount of sealing, saysAetna’s Barry Tucker, there is twice as much togo wrong on twin-reel machines, and the pack isunsightly. He adds: “The reels never run out atthe same time, of course, so it incurs twice thedowntime.”
Campak, the UK supplier of Italian-builtCAM machinery, notes some additional benefitsof single-reel systems. According to the com-pany, single-reel designs eliminate the need for
skilled operators to track and tension twin reelsof film. Like Aetna, Campak stresses the consis-tent seal position and appearance obtained withsingle-reel installations. Film loading andthreading is also faster, says Campak, underlin-ing Barry Tucker’s line of argument aboutdowntime.
However, Ivan Reeve at Europack reckonsthat changeover on a continuous-motionmachine collating unsupported packs can takeup to 35 minutes, including the time taken toramp the line up to full production speeds.
In contrast, he says, a similar change on atwin-reel machine might take just 10-15 min-utes. Precisely those benefits which make thecontinuous machines efficient in production,such as linked servo drives for the variouspoints in the film feed, can contribute to down-time during changeovers, he argues.
Return to full outputBut the different numbers will at least in partdepend upon whether they include the timetaken to return to full output, and – of course –what type of single-reel machine is being dis-cussed. A top-of-the-range continuous-motionmachine, equipped with stepper motors andservo drives, will offer dramatically shorter sizeadjustment times than a less automated system.
From its central position in the mid-market,Aetna contrasts the potential of the differentmarket segments.
“In the range of 20ppm upwards – up toKisters systems reaching 100ppm – most of thequality food and drink companies needing thissort of technology are already well-equipped,”Barry Tucker explains. “The chances of thesepeople spending too much money on hugeshrink lines is fairly slim. It’s a small market atthe moment.”
Consolidation among customers has meantthere are perhaps just a dozen companies in theUK using this high-output type of system in 24-hour production. The number of potential sup-pliers is also small, with names such as Kisters,Kettner and Ocme competing for the majority ofinstallations.
The middle portion of the market, on theother hand, is served by up to a dozen suppliersaround Europe. These companies compete forsome 40 or 50 installations a year in the UK,Barry Tucker estimates, which means that typi-cally, at least four different suppliers bid foreach installation.
In this broad middle band, demand isincreasingly for greater flexibility, with maybe
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Twin reel: Europack RTF W, one of a range of standard machines adaptable to specific tasks
six different sizes required from the samemachine. At the same time, Aetna notes, bud-gets are not quite so flexible. Typically, a buyermay have £75,000 or £100,000 to replace atwin-reel system.
Proof of the puddingAs in other areas of packing technology, theseend-user flexibility requirements are driven bythe retailers’ demands, such as a requirement inone case for shrink-wrapped collations of jarsto be delivered in six-packs rather than the pre-vious 12-pack.
The same trend towards six-packs, especiallyunsupported by a tray or board, is also clear inthe petfood sector and at major food suppliers,Barry Tucker points out. In these cases, print-in-register is often required so that the six-packcan function as a multipack. Once again, heargues, this is an area where twin-reel cannotcompete with single-reel.
But twin-reel systems have clearly been hav-ing their successes, too.
For example, YPS has now installed fourmachines at Zest Foods, a leading supplier ofsauces in glass jars. The Rochman machines are600mm-wide side-feed shrink-wrappers. Zestgeneral manager Steven Mason says the com-pany was influenced by the backup and serviceoffered by YPS, as well as the performance ofthe machines themselves.
Also in food, Europack says it started some-thing of a trend with its intermittent-motionmachines when it installed one of its “tight-wrapper” shinkwrap systems at an unnamedrice packer. The “tight-wrap” element derivesfrom the angle at which the vertical sealing jawis set, forming a seal much closer to the colla-tion than standard methods, Europack argues,
and so consuming “up to 15 per cent less film”. In this case, the approach is being applied to
bags of rice. “Bagged rice is a particularlyunstable product, and will sag when wrappedand palletised if not very tightly wrapped,”explain’s Europack’s Ivan Reeve.
Here, the results have been so good, he says,that the customer has been able to increase thesize of the pallet load, and is now consideringrobotic rather thanmanual palletisation.
The installationhandles bags of 500g,1kg and 2kg. Theyenter the machine insingle file, narrowedge leading. Aftertravelling up a ramp,they are pitched andturned ready for colla-tion, wide edge lead-ing. Vacuum headsplace the bags intocollations of 4 x 1 x 2or 3 x 1 x 2. Now,says Ivan Reeve, thesame approach is being applied to other typesof product.
Other companies with a story to tell, withtwin-reel and single-reel respectively, includeAdpak and Campak.
Unsupported wrapLancashire-based Adpak is one of those suppli-ers which have been pushing hard at the low-output end of the spectrum. The companyplaces heavy emphasis on the role of unsup-ported shrink, notably in bottling. But it main-tains that the move towards this type of format
has not been confined to high-output single-reellines.
Adpak’s A700 wrapper runs at speedsbetween 10 and 12 packs a minute, with orwithout base boards or trays. The semi-auto-matic A700SEL, in particular, has a major roleto play in wrapping unsupported collations, saysthe supplier.
The operator places bottles into an adjustable
product pusher, which supports the collationduring transport into the film web. Close cou-pling ensures a smooth transfer to the shrinktunnel, with automatic activation of the con-veyor once the wrap is sealed. The A700SELcan handle glass and PET in sizes between250ml and 3 litres.
The full Adpak range starts with the SW50and SW70, with manually-operated speeds ofjust six packs a minute, and is topped off bythose versions of the 700 machine with a fully-automatic bottle collating facility.
Campak’s ASB 38 has found applications in
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Single reel: Dimac Star 30 from Aetna UK, one of a range of single reel continuous motion machines extending from 20 to 80 packs a minute
Twin reel: One of four new Rochman machines at Zest Foods
sectors as diverse as pharmaceuticals, cosmet-ics, confectionery and general food, and can beused as either a shrink-wrapper or stretch-bundler. The wrapping module and infeed canbe configured in different ways to cater for avariety of products and environments, with sideor elevator transfers moving product inline orthrough 90deg before the finished collation ispushed through the single film reel.
Packs then progress to the CAM TRM shrinkunit, operated by hot air guns. Again, unsup-ported containers, or collations with baseboards or trays can be handled.
Finally, WT Foods, Corwen, has re-equippedits factory with three Meurer shrink-wrappinglines from UK agent Fords Packaging Systemsto handle glass bottles of sauce and bags ofcereal.
Among features required of the newmachines by general manager Erfyl Robertswere energy savings, reduction in the film used,increased production speeds, flexibility to wrapproducts with or without trays and reliability inthe sealing systems.
In fact, many previous problems at the fac-tory were due to unreliable sealing systems,explains Fords Packaging.
“The Meurer constant heat solid metal seal-
ing jaw fitted with a serrated cold cut knife wasso like the vertical form-fill-seal machines hewas using that Mr Roberts immediately hadconfidence that these problems would disap-pear,” says Fords. “His first Meurer is morethan two years old and is still fitted with thesame sealing jaw and knife.”
Up to speedOf course, when it comes to choices betweencontinuous-motion and intermittent machines,it could be true both that customers in thereplacement market are looking hard at single-reel options, and that they are just as oftencoming down in favour of twin-reel solutions inthe end.
At Europack, this is certainly Ivan Reeve’sversion of events: “More and more we are talk-ing to people who want to make sure they’re upto speed in terms of technology.” But, he adds,once the various considerations have been takeninto account, they realise that continuousmotion may not be the right solution for them.
It may also be true that the differencesbetween the various suppliers, in terms of basiccost, technical specification, efficiency andbackup, may count for more than any genericcontrast between the two broad approaches. �
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For full details of all PPMA members able tosupply shrink-wrapping machinery, consultthe PPMA machinery finder service, tel: 0208773 8111 or www.ppma.co.uk
For further information:
Adpak Machinery SystemsT: 01282 601444E: [email protected]
Aetna UKT: 01234 825050E: [email protected]
CampakT: 01536 261501E: [email protected]
EuropackT: 01502 716540E: [email protected]
Fords Packaging SystemsT: 01234 846600E: [email protected]
Yorkshire Packaging SystemsT: 01924 441355E: [email protected]
