first published in Board Converting News
High Point, North Carolina – Packrite, LLC recently upgraded their Bobst Mastercut 2.1 diecutter line with the addition of a high-speed Bobst Breaker Flat Track nicked bundle breaker and a Bobst Palletizer 2.1. This latest technology upgrade is part of Packrite’s continual improvement program and brings a new level of automation, productivity, and efficiency to their Mastercut line.
“It’s a huge time saver”, says Michael Drummond, CEO of Packrite. “It has completely eliminated hand breaking on that Mastercut line. We can make multiple breaks across a bundle as well as multiple breaks in the through direction in a single pass. It’s all automatic and there’s no need for a second pass.”
Bobst Palletizer dual turntables orient and position each batch to create the preprogrammed load.
The Breaker Flat Track feeds into the Palletizer 2.1, a fully automated palletizer which includes offsetting alignment and turntables to align and orient individual batches for proper placement within the stack. “These offsetting tables also allow our operators and quality team access to the full die-cut batch without climbing over the equipment. It makes it easier, faster, and safer to pull samples for quality control,” says Drummond.
The Palletizer 2.1 also includes automatic tie-sheet, dunnage-sheet, and pallet insertion in addition to automatic pallet pre-load placement. “We just select a load format and size from a pre-programmed recipe. Then it’s hands off, the machine does the rest.”
The Palletizer feeds into the recently installed state-of-the-art takeaway conveyor line. “Our new takeaway line includes automatic pallet centering and a multi-head Signode GCU SmartFlex™ Unitizer with sword insertion feature. The sword insertion allows us to strap a load to a pallet in two directions to ensure load stability.”
Downstream from the unitizer is a new Octopus high-speed, large format automatic stretch wrapper. Single point job entry provides simple and efficient set-up and operation of all components of the line. The system gives Packrite the versatility to strap and wrap, just strap, just wrap, or pass through based on their customers’ requirements and can create over 200 units per hour. “This new conveyor line was installed to accommodate the additional capacity created by the Expertfold 230 we installed earlier in the year,” says Drummond.
For more information on Packrite’s capabilities visit www.packrite.net.