SUCCESS STORIES - Mayer Kartonagen
Fully automated End-of-Line for the corrugated board industry
The end of the packaging line in corrugated board processing poses particular challenges. Sensitive products in a wide variety of formats have to be bundled here at high speed and secured for transportation. Bahmüller and Mosca have joined forces to develop the optimum solution for Mayer Kartonagen from Haiterbach. With the Powerpacker with SoniXs, the company now achieves an increase in output of between 20 and 35 percent.
Customized corrugated cardboard packaging solutions - this is the business area of Mayer Kartonagen in Haiterbach. From compartment inserts to folding cartons and die-cut boxes, the plant in the Black Forest produces thousands of packages for a wide variety of products every day. These include corrugated cardboard packaging for engine and transmission parts, medical technology components and foodstuffs. As the cardboard packaging varies enormously depending on the industry, product and area of application, it is a major challenge to produce, bundle and secure it for transportation. Since 2015, a Jetbox folder gluer (FKM) from Wilhelm Bahmüller Maschinenbau Präzisionswerkzeuge GmbH has been automatically sealing and gluing the various types of cardboard boxes. Until recently, however, employees were needed at the end of the production line. They removed the cartons manually, separated and turned them and then fed them to the bundling unit - a laborious and time-consuming process that limited the productivity of the line. The full capacity of the FKM could not be utilized and large packages were difficult to strap.
In order to optimize this process, Mayer Kartonagen brought two long-standing partners and specialists on board, Bahmüller and Mosca : the company has been purchasing its strapping machines from Mosca GmbH for over a decade, including several free-standing models for manual loading, a fully automatic UATRI inline strapping machine and a fully automatic packing press for pallet strapping with an ultrasonic unit. Mayer Kartonagen has also had good experience with the FKM from Bahmüller for more than five years.
Simple and efficient
The result of the collaboration: a state-of-the-art Powerpacker with SoniXs. Glued cartons are fed fully automatically from the FKM into the Powerpacker, sorted into packs and finally strapped. This saves time and boosts productivity at Mayer Kartonagen . Depending on the number of items per pack, the Powerpacker straps between 7,800 and 13,000 cartons per hour, with a maximum output of 20,000 packs. Depending on the pack shape, Mayer Kartonagen thus achieves an increase in output of 20 to 35 percent. Aziz Kaplan, Production & Technology Manager at Mayer Kartonagen, comments: "The Powerpacker with SoniXs represents a clear step into the future for our production line."
The final step at the end of the packaging line is now as simple as it is efficient: the operator only has to specify the number of cartons per pack and set the size of the cartons, then the machine takes over. The shingled flow of cartons is fed directly from the FKM to the Powerpacker via a press belt. Sensors count the cartons there. As soon as the selected number has passed through, a separating belt divides the shingled cartons into partial packs.
For packs with an automatic base, the Powerpacker's rotation module then ensures homogeneity: a partial pack is rotated by 180 degrees. These cartons fall onto the unrotated cartons in the collection chute and form a uniform package that can be easily stacked. From the chute module, the packs are pushed into the strapping module, where Mosca's inline stitching units are used. Depending on requirements, they strap the parcels once or twice in parallel with a five millimeter wide Strap PP. The units are equipped with a double dispenser. This ensures a continuous supply of strapping by a sensor that detects an empty roll and automatically welds on the Strap from the next roll without idling.
SoniXs in inline strapping for the first time
The machine at Mayer Kartonagen is a first: it is the first Powerpacker to use Mosca's ultrasonic technology. While other strapping machines traditionally seal strap material using heat, the SoniXs developed by Mosca seals the strap ends using ultrasound. This not only avoids vapors, but also eliminates energy-intensive warm-up times.
This process had not previously been used in inline strapping machines: "The power pack in inline strapping differs significantly from our other SoniXs," explains Christian Zwieb, Sales Manager Mosca Engineering at Mosca. "In order to be able to use SoniXs in the Powerpacker, we had to develop completely new units that are mirror images of each other." To strap the strap, a linear plunger moves into the unit from above and takes the strap with it. To seal the Strap , the sonotrode then swings in from below, presses the strap ends together and seals them.
With these new inline units, the Powerpacker is perfectly prepared for the various pack formats required by Mayer Kartonagen . Regardless of whether it is small packaging or display packaging, with a minimum distance of just 100 millimetres between the two strapping units and a collating chute height of 400 millimetres, packages of almost any size can be strapped securely and thus bundled.
Challenging installation pays off
Mayer Kartonagen was finally able to install the Powerpacker in summer 2020 - no easy project during a pandemic: Mayer Kartonagen had to move an entire line for the installation, with strictly separated work shifts. This made the installation the biggest challenge of the project for Mayer Kartonagen , but the fitters from the three companies worked together to master it well.
This challenging installation has paid off: "We are very satisfied, both with the project process and with the entire production line. The Powerpacker is stable and efficient," says Kaplan. "And after years of having to perform this last step in the packaging line manually, our employees are now relieved of a large part of this strenuous process. That's a huge relief for everyone." To make it easier for them to switch to the Powerpacker after all this time, Bahmüller trains the operators at regular intervals.
Mayer Kartonagen is already keeping an eye on further expansion stages of the line and is planning a fully automated material transport system, for example. Kaplan emphasizes: "We look forward to working with Bahmüller and Mosca again in the future."
Satisfied customer
Cooperation as a success factor
It was clear to Mayer Kartonagen from the outset that they wanted to integrate the strapping units from Mosca into the Powerpacker: Wherever possible, the company relies on Mosca. "We have knownMosca and Bahmüller for a long time as reliable partners with whom we have a familiar relationship," explains Kaplan.
To ensure that the Powerpacker would work reliably with the new units right from the start, Mosca and Bahmüller developed the machine in close collaboration - familiar territory for both companies: "We developed the first Powerpacker with the support of Mosca and have been in constant contact ever since," says Christoph Gutmann, Product Manager for Corrugated Board Processing at Bahmüller. When the shaft height needed to be increased by more than 40 percent for the fourth generation of the Powerpacker, Bahmüller turned to Mosca again. "Some strapping machines can't handle a height of 400 mm - Mosca 's machines can," explains Gutmann.
After development, Bahmüller finally tested the Powerpacker with Mosca for four months in its own Innovation Center - also with products from Mayer Kartonagen. "We made the project fly together from the very first hour: from the concept to development and integration, we were always in contact with Mosca and Mayer Kartonagen ," emphasizes Gutmann. "This close cooperation between all three parties was definitely the key to success."
"We have been very satisfied with both the quality of the machines and the fast service for many years."