“Apart from the added cost and floorspace needed for the fence, we never thought it was a perfect solution because someone will always find a way to defeat a safety perimeter while the machine is running or being serviced,” Josephs says. “Even after an E-stop, the arms on most stretch-wrapping machines will continue to rotate for one-half of a revolution or more, and you don’t want to be the person whose sleeve or pant leg just got snagged on that arm.
CORNER KICK
“We also use manually applied corner-boards for our loads,” he adds, “which would complicate the operation of a fenced-in machine or require additional automation.”
Fortunately for Kisko, Louisville, Ky.-based Lantech—a renowned manufacturer of semi- and fully-automatic stretchwrapping, case-handling, shrink packaging and pallet-load conveying systems—had just introduced the S-series stretchwrapping systems around that time.
Outfitted with a large shock-absorbing safety shield on the arm and a drive system that stops the rotation immediately if there is any pressure on the safety shield, Josephs says he was immediately impressed with the innovative safety features.
“These machines proved as safe or safer than those with a perimeter fence; they cost less because there’s less hardware; and they take up less floorspace,” Josephs extols.
“We had originally budgeted for one fenced-in machine, but then realized that for just a little more money we could afford two of the unfenced S-300 machines,” he states. “This gave us needed redundancy and extra capacity for growth, because just one of these machines has greater output than our two older machines combined.”
The S-300 machine is a free-standing stretchwrapping system—requiring no wall-mounting—with a space-saving, 188-square-foot footprint.
Capable of wrapping between 25 and 35 loads per hour, up to 76-inches-high, the only operator intervention it ever requires is to actually attach the film to the load—with its patented Auto Film Cut-Off feature allowing the operator to hop back on the lift-truck right after starting the wrap.
As for film savings, the system’s electronically controlled pre-stretch ranges from 100 to 300 per cent for optimal operations flexibility, with the Kisko plant typically setting its machines at a 200-percent pre-stretch to apply two layers of film to each palletized load.
In regards to safety, the S-300 machine fully delivers by providing a 14-inches-wide clearance between the moving arm and the machine’s single vertical column to protect any worker who might get between the column and the arm.
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