Carton Sealers
Trade News / May 1999MainPackaging Technology & Engineering / May 1999
Four-edge Carton Sealer Speeds M.G. Waldbaum's Production M.G.Waldbaum's, a Michael Foods Co., is a niche processor of egg products located in Wakefield, NE. To maintain the integrity of its product during shipping. Waldbaum's had a traditionally taped its cartons to keep them from breaking down in distribution. Production was curtailed as packagers struggled with flipping the 50 pound boxes over to tape them manually. Waldbaum found that this time consuming method was causing a bottle-neck in the flow of production and also presented a concerning exposure to injury for employees throughout the day. Additionally, there were resulting customer concerns such as the hand applied tape coming off or peeling back that caused a perceived appearance of lack of quality with the jagged, irregular and unprofessional look which reflected on the actual quality of the product.
At M. G. Waldbaum the first step in protecting the dried product from contamination by the outside environment, is to flow the dry products, yokes and egg whites into a 50 lb. carton with a poly interliner bag, which is separately sealed. The top and bottom of each carton is then sealed manually with tape. Because this method successfully protects the product from moisture, bugs, insects and dirt while shipping or during storage in the cooled 60 degrees centimeter warehouse, it is an integral aspect of the production process. In discussions among David Sty, plant manager, Doug Kluthe, plant engineer and Mike Loofe, processing supervisor, it became apparent that a more efficient and cost-effective method of sealing the cartons was needed. As they searched the marketplace to find a solution to their problem, there was one manufacturer that had the answer, BestPack Packaging Systems, of Rancho Cucamonga, CA. BestPack had found a need for carton integrity, environmental protection of cartoned products and reduction of pilferage that edge taping solved for other markets. Using their proven design and technical experience. BestPack had the right machine for M.G.Waldbaum's production team. The machine is a BestPack 6 Series operator-free, four-outer-edge carton sealing machine. It uses pressure-sensitive tape. The semi-automatic adjustable 6SAM can process up to 480 cartons per hour. The fully automatic random 6RAM model is capable of 360 cartons per hour. An inline system, the 6 Series automatically turns the top and bottom sealed cartons 90 degrees. The BestPack 6 Series features a patented brushing system to ensure an even application of tape, bottom tape air blowers, and a low tape sensor with a warning light. It automatically tapes the four edges and produces uniform, professional quality packages with the necessary integrity and ergonomics to satisfy Waldbaum customers. Results include less tape waste, the employee safety concerns were eradicated and Waldbaum was able to add more lines without requiring additional personnel, Dough Kluthe, plant engineer, enjoys the fact that not only is the BestPack edge taper's maintenance virtually non-existent, but now all three of their edge tapers run continuously, producing high-quality packages for them.
Pat Brennan Reprinted from Packaging Technology & Engineering May 1999 ? 1999, North American Publishing Co., Philadelphia, PA 19108 |
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