SUCCESS STORIES - Heilbronner Stimme
Ultrasonic sealing technology impresses in practical use
Heilbronner Stimme is a regional newspaper and the only daily newspaper in the city of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg. In addition to seven regional editions of the Heilbronner Stimme , the publishing house of the Heilbronner Stimme, which employs over 500 people, also publishes the two daily newspapers Hohenloher Zeitung and Kraichgau Stimme as well as various advertising papers. With a paid circulation of around 100,000 copies and around 240,000 readers daily, Heilbronner Stimme Stimme, together with the other two newspapers, is the leading daily newspaper for the economic region of Heilbronn, Franconia, Hohenlohe and Kraichgau. The daily newspapers are produced in the so-called Rhine format, and are automatically stacked, wrapped in film and then strapped for transportation. "We have been working with Mosca GmbH for many years on the strapping machines that we use on our four production lines for securing transported goods," explains Hans-Jürgen Müller, Head of Press Printing at Heilbronner Stimme. "When Mosca launched the ultrasonic units on the market, we were quickly convinced of the benefits of this very efficient sealing technology and upgraded to the new SoniXs machine models." There are now two of these strapping machines working on each production line, which are designed in such a way that they can strap up to 40 newspaper stacks per minute inline crosswise when arranged in pairs one behind the other. A turning device is not required for this. The stack height, which can vary between 0.5 and 40 cm, is automatically scanned and the strap tension adjusted accordingly.
Effizient, energiesparend und zuverlässig
"The high cycle rates achieved with the ultrasonic sealing units were by no means the only decisive factor in our decision," continues Müller. "Higher reliability, lower maintenance requirements and lower energy consumption were also decisive arguments for us." With the hot wedge process, residues and adhesions repeatedly form on the weld tongues, which reduce the sealing quality and then require additional, usually unplannable maintenance measures. With the ultrasonic process, on the other hand, there is no need to worry about this, as there are no heat-up times.
However, there are other arguments in favor of ultrasonic sealing technology: the ultrasonic units work comparatively quietly, no vapours or odours are produced during the sealing process and the method is also very economical. Energy is only consumed during the actual sealing time. In contrast to the hot wedge method, no specific temperatures need to be maintained. This means that stand-by operation is even possible in times of low package throughput. As the ultrasonic unit is immediately ready for use, it only needs to be activated when strapping takes place.
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Electromechanics instead of cost-intensive pneumatics
"Only electromechanical presses and stops are used in the strapping machines, which saves us the energy and cost-intensive pneumatics that would otherwise be required," says Müller. Energy consumption is also reduced by the fact that the brushless and practically wear-free DC drives used exclusively in the aggregates operate with extremely high efficiency levels. At the same time, the direct drives reduce the number of mechanical wear parts used in the past, thereby helping to minimize maintenance costs.
"If servicing is required, the units, which are designed as modules, can be removed and installed or replaced within a very short time. This means we only have to plan for short downtimes."