SUCCESS STORIES - Heilbronner Stimme
Ultrasonic sealing technology impresses in practical use
The Heilbronner Stimme a regional newspaper and the only daily newspaper in the Baden-Württemberg city of Heilbronn. The Heilbronner Stimme publishing house, which employs over 500 people, publishes seven regional editions of Heilbronner Stimme the two daily newspapers Hohenloher Zeitung and Kraichgau Stimme, and various advertising journals. With a paid circulation of around 100,000 copies and approximately 240,000 readers daily, the Heilbronner Stimme with the other two newspapers, is the leading daily newspaper for the economic region comprising Heilbronn, Franconia, Hohenlohe, and the Kraichgau. The daily newspapers are produced in the so-called Rhenish format; for transport, they are automatically stacked, wrapped in film, and then strapped.GmbH WeGmbH with Mosca GmbH for many years on the strapping machines we use on our four production lines to secure the cargo for transport,GmbH explains Hans-Jürgen Müller, Head of Newspaper Printing at the Heilbronner Stimme. “When Mosca introduced Mosca ultrasonic units to the market, we were quickly convinced of the advantages of this highly efficient sealing technology and switched to the new SoniXs machine models.” Now, each production line has two of these strapping machines, which are designed to be arranged in pairs one behind the other so they can strapp crosswise up to 40 stacks of newspapers per minute inline. A rotating device is not required for this. The stack height, which can vary between 0.5 and 40 cm, is automatically detected, and the Strap tension is adjusted Strap tension .
Efficient, energy-saving and reliable
"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.
Satisfied customer
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."