Creative ending

According to the Processing and Packaging Machinery Association (PPMA)'s technical consultant, Martin Keay, the big supermarkets "have a particular propensity for changing their mind over the best transit packaging format – things tend to go in cycles and this substantially affects the demands placed on end-of-line machinery producers".

Thus, while a few years ago plastic returnable trays enjoyed a "huge surge" in popularity, growing pressure to reduce manual handling and replenish shelves more often mean a highly popular transit format today is "shelf-ready" - corrugated cases that double as robust transit container and eye-catching display unit for quick, easy placement straight on shelf.

Ivan Reeve, sales and marketing director at Europack, the Suffolk-based Bradman Lake Group shrinkwrapping and casepacking equipment manufacturer, says: "The growing demand for shelf-ready was brought home to me at a recent conference where the retailers stressed their biggest expense is in the supply chain's last 50 yards. Often with conventional transit packaging staff waste considerable time trying to identify products, shrinkwrapped goods get damaged before reaching shelves, and staff spend significant time unpacking them. Most agreed shelf-ready is the way forward."

Glyn Johnson, director of Yorkshire Packaging Systems (YPS), agrees most big UK supermarkets are now driving suppliers to supply in shelf-ready packaging. He elaborates: "Pressure to reduce material use has undoubtedly been a key driver. And, alongside the in-store handling issues, there is also the storage issue – conventional cartons take up substantial space."

YPS is UK distributor for Rochman's side-fed and inline sleevewrappers, and also makes its own heavy duty sleevewrappers, mainly sold to the milk industry for wrapping collations of large polybottles.

"The move towards shelf-ready has been good news for us as end-of-line machinery specialists," admits Johnson. "Both the inline and side-fed Rochman sleevewrappers we sell, which will wrap anything from 10-15 packs/min, have done well. The side-fed machines will handle products in trays and trayless collations, whereas the inline units are generally used for bigger items like furniture."

Cumbrian Seafoods recently installed its third 600mm wide fully automatic inline Rochman sleevewrapper for polythene wrapping shelf-ready trays of crabsticks. Johnson explains: "Cumbrian's retailer customers had requested a switch from boxes to trays and, having been delighted with its two initial Rochman sleevewrappers, Cumbrian ordered a third within a week of the first two being delivered."

Due to their potential harsh operating environments, stainless steel construction and water-proof, low voltage electrical cabinets were specified by Cumbrian, which reports increased productivity, reduced packaging costs, and "happier customers with a much reduced packaging waste liability" since the machines' installation.

YPS also impressed Redditch-based contract manufacturer of dry powder food products Contract Foods, which now has three Rochman automatic side-feed sleeve sealers and shrink tunnels, modified to switch between trayed and trayless collations at the touch of a button.

Of course, it is not just compact foods goods that need shrinkwrapping. YPS recently showed its range's flexibility by supplying bathroom fitting manufacturer Ideal Standard's Hull factory with its second Rochman wide automatic inline sleevewrapper in the last year. YPS had supplied the plant with a 2.6m wide sleeve sealer and shrink tunnel early in 2004 to wrap shower enclosures and Ideal Standard turned to it again for a second machine to wrap shower bases. The second,1.5m wide line had to be upgraded to accommodate packs weighing up to 80kg.

Solution for Cussons

Another leading UK end-of-line machinery specialist is Bradman Lake Group, which in 2004 bought Norwich-based flowwrapping, roll wrapping and product handling machinery specialist Autowrappers and Beccles-based shrinkwrapping and case packaging machinery manufacturer Europack. Group ceo Graham Hayes says the acquisitions made the company a genuine, integrated single source end-of-line machinery supplier for the first time in its history.

Bradman Lake also reports a shelf-ready trend. Europack, for instance, was recently asked by PZ Cussons to supply equipment to erect new shelf-ready packs for the relaunch of Cussons' Morning Fresh washing-up liquid in clear PET bottles. Anticipating growing retailer demand for improved in-store handling, Cussons invited corrugated supplier SCA Packaging to develop a new shelf-ready pack and secondary packaging system.

After reviewing several machinery manufacturers, the two companies selected Europack. SCA designed a robust, multi-purpose corrugated pack formed, filled and closed automatically on a custom-designed Europack wraparound case packer, which is simply converted into an attractive, rapidly loaded shelf display by unzipping and removing the top and sides. In smaller outlets, the pack can be opened and reclosed conventionally.

The Europack WR25 casepacker handles 500 and 750ml Morning Fresh PET bottles, controlling the infeed, collating into 4x4 format, forming cases from preprinted blanks and sealing them into a continuous flow at up to 300/min. Europack says by using the new SCA "One Touch" container, pack quality and performance were enhanced and packaging line efficiency and throughput increased.

End-of-line systems, whether for shelf-ready or "traditional" packaging, often represent sizeable investment so must not only increase productivity but equally provide fast payback. With brand owners employing fewer project engineers of their own, buyers also require strong technical back-up.

Understanding customers' businesses

Tony Hacker, Endoline Machinery md, says: "One of our key strengths has always been a desire to understand our customers' businesses and help them solve problems, rather than simply flog them a machine and walk away.

"With many types of traditional "stand-up" goods, such as cereal packs, washing-up liquid or pouched soups, supermarkets are insisting on conversion to shelf-ready for existing lines and new shelf-ready packs for launches."

Dick South, Cermex UK md, adds: "End-of-line manufacturers must increasingly ensure not only that machines will accommodate shelf-ready units, but can also cope with different orientations and product quantities. For instance, with goods like washing-up liquids and even luxury whiskies there is a growing preference for smaller pack sizes.

"With some high turnover goods, like bottled soft drinks, retailers are also increasingly requesting they be delivered pallet wrapped on plastic dollies and simply placed at the end of the aisle."

Barry Tucker, chairman of pallet stretchwrapping and shrinkwrapping specialist Aetna says the dollies have the advantage of being half the size of pallets and can be wheeled straight onto the shopfloor. He adds: "Alongside drinks, stretchwrapped petfood is increasingly delivered on dollies and indeed many retailers are putting multipacks of petfoods and canned human foods straight on shelf in unsupported shrinkfilm. The growing popularity of smaller multipacks has seen a need for faster pallet stretchwrappers."

Aetna claims a 40% share of the UK market for medium to high speed pallet stretchwrappers, such as its Robopac Genesis fully automatic ring stretchwrapper, which can wrap some 100 pallets or 110 dollies/hour.

The company recently installed its sixth Helix rotary arm pallet stretchwrapper at the Kent plant of soft drinks producer the Silver Spring Mineral Water Company – an Aetna customer for over 15 years. The 80 pallet/hr Helix joins the five others and a Genesis ring wrapper at the Folkestone site.

"The other big development," says Tucker, "is the growing use of small semi-automatic pallet stretchwrappers as more FMCG companies outsource distribution to logistics companies, who may be undertaking significant re-packing, necessitating the purchase of entry-level and semi-automatic stretchwrappers like our Robopac Rotoplat, which can wrap around 20 pallets/hr."

Returning to shelf-ready, Endoline's Hacker says companies migrating from "traditional" pack styles tend to either convert existing 0201 cases using, say, a perforation that runs two-thirds of the way up the box around the circumference or specify an entirely new shelf-ready tray. He says: "We are seeing growing use of hot melt glue rather than tape for sealing, since shelf-ready designs, with their perforations, may be inherently significantly weaker than their conventional counterparts. However, our machines can easily handle a switch from tape to glue."

Endoline offers several case erectors for differing requirements, including the 212, with low hopper for easier loading, the small footprint 202 with higher hopper for limited space applications, and the 221 "benchmark" machine. It can handle 16 cases up to 500mm long x 400mm wide/min, while the 202 and 212 have a throughput of 12 cases, up to 600mm long x 500mm long/min.

The company also offers the 500 series tray erectors, which can accommodate a variety of different tray styles. Hacker says: "With perforations or other tears, some shelf-ready packs require extremely careful handling. A good tray or case erector will handle even poorer quality cases. Our dual vacuum case opening system, via which cases being formed are pulled open from both sides by neoprene vacuum cups, ensures high quality case construction."

Endoline also offers pick and place linear access machines for fully automatic loading of firm, rigid products like ready meal trays. Hacker says: "Able to pick and place a whole raft of items, including cartons, trays, tubs and blister packed items, they are a growing niche line for us."

In a non-shelf ready end-of-line application, which nevertheless demonstrates Endoline's one-stop machinery capabilities, the company recently supplied a turnkey line to a major Australian snackfood manufacturer, which wanted a single supplier system able to increase output, reduce labour and operator fatigue. The system includes 212 case erectors and Series 734 fully automatic random case tapers, both featuring "unique" modifications. Australia reportedly has among the world's most stringent manual handling regulations, explaining the choice of the 212, with its lowered hoppers. Once erected and manually filled with bagged snacks, the cases are moved down the line via Endoline's powered roller conveyors, fitted with a newly developed controller which prevents cases banging into eachother. From there they are fed into 734 Series case tapers. A newly developed scanning system ejects unreadable barcoded boxes or "bad" cases. The 734 can operate at consistently high speeds of 18 cases/min.

Designed and manufactured in the UK and dispatched to Australia in four shipping container loads, the entire system was installed over two consecutive weekends with minimal disruption.

Pester Pac Automation UK, UK subsidiary of German end-of-line machinery supplier Pester Germany, launched at interpack both a "brand new development in carton and tray packaging" and a high speed stretchwrapper.

Strongly designed to enable packer-fillers to cater for changing retailer requirements, the company's "Top Loading Concept" is a modular, balcony-style 40 pack/min robotic carton and tray packaging system. At the core of the PEWO-Form TLC is a flexible robot cell which can top load individual products including bottles, cartons, tubes or aerosols into cases or trays.

Especially suited to delicate goods, the robot has a smooth operation, ensuring products are picked up and moved without vibration. Pester Pac Automation UK says the system was primarily developed for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors, where sensitive materials need to be packed securely and with high integrity.

The "modular" system comprises a robotic cell and additional module which can be positioned in line and combined to form a complete line with case or tray erecting, collating, loading and sealing and palletising equipment. Major tasks like erecting trays or cases are undertaken by a 5 or 6-axis jointed arm KUKA robot.

Chris Stevens, Pester Pac Automation UK's operations director, adds: "To cater for changing packing requirements users simply bolt on further sub-systems or equip existing modules with additional functions."

Compact high speed stretchwrapper

Pester Pac says its second interpack launch, the Pester PEWO-Pack 450 compact high speed stretchwrapper, is the first single lane machine able to operate at such high speeds – it can wrap up to 300 bottles/min or over 500 cartons/min, is designed to GMP standards in balcony style and can stretch band all standard sizes of bottles for cosmetics, capsules, tablets and other products.

The modular design, small footprint and various orientations of product feed enable the machine to "fit almost anywhere", while product changeovers are "fast and simple".

Cermex was another end-of-line machinery company demonstrating its latest machines at interpack. Matthew Carey, area sales manager for the north of England, says some supermarkets are now imposing time deadlines on suppliers to convert to shelf-ready. In response and due to big food retailers' tendency to use multiple pack types for the same product, Cermex developed its "Ready to Pack" end of line machines for both flexible products like stand-up pouches, flowpacks and sachets and trays/wraparound cases.

Jean-Marc Passemard, head of sales promotion, adds: "Our pre-development research suggested these machines should be able to handle and collate products arriving on several lanes, provide efficient production at low and average speeds of 60-120 packs/min, and handle several product and packaging formats."

Cermex's Ready to Pack range combines these abilities in a range of modular product infeed, collation, pick and place, tooling and frame components.

On show at interpack was a six-axis pick and pack tray loader and vision system shown loading 200g bags into trays. After arriving on an infeed conveyor, the products were accurately controlled by a vision system from French manufacturer Edixia (also designed to check products and reject "incorrect" items) and gripped in twos by the six-axis robot. The bags were then loaded to form batches of eight lying flat or 14 upright per tray. The demonstration system processed the bags at 100/min.