To make it all happen, the plant employs an impressive arsenal of cutting-edge package converting and production equipment, including:
- A McKinley 66×130-inch, three-color rotary
die-cutter; - A Bobst Martin Mini Line 616 two-color flexo
folder-gluer; - A Serenco 50×110-inch, three-color flexo folder-gluer;
- A Marumatsu Max 88-11 automatic flatbed
die-cutter; - A GL III semi-automatic gluer manufactured by
The Haire Group. - A model CTM-602-10 automatic unitizer from the EAM-Mosca Corporation, installed in 2000.
Despite already employing a reliable EAM-Mosca unitizer to apply polypropylene (PP) strapping to secure its finished loads of product, Murdoch relates, the company decided to proceed with an installation of a stretchwrapping system in order to ensure optimal product protection for its customers.
After looking at several available equipment options, including the lower-cost semi-automatic stretchwrapping systems—the company was ultimately persuaded by the innovative design and features of the proprietary MX-A-ARM system, which truly automates all the stretchwrapping-related tasks to leave the operator with the simple job of pressing the start-stop button.
“The reason why, for all these years, people have been forced to perform these manual tasks is that until now there has not been a suitable technology to come along that is both reliable and affordable,” says Cousins Packaging president Neil Cousins.
According to Cousins, about 90 per cent of all the stretchwrappers currently purchased in North America are semi-automatic models, which require the operator to attach the plastic stretchwrap film to the skid by hand to start the cycle, and to detach the film from the load by hand at the end of the cycle.
Not only is there a lot of valuable time wasted, Cousins contends, such method always carries an occupational safety hazard due to the frequent interaction between man and machine.
To address that, Cousins engineered an innovative mechanism—running back and forth along the stretchwrapper’s arm—that automatically attaches and cuts the film above the load at the start and the end of each cycle.
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