Which is why Staffordshire-based Swanline Print decided to hire national treasure Holder when seeking a ‘sleb’ for its promotional video (see p29 and www.swanlineprint.co.uk/companyprofile). Delve around this packaging and POS print factory a little more thoroughly though, and you’ll discover sound waves being used in other, quite different ways.
Slightly more subtle than Holder’s dulcet tones (which doesn’t narrow it down much, granted), is the use of sound waves in one of Swanline’s relatively recent purchases, a Mosca KCK-121 automatic pallet packing press, installed last October.
Unlike some other packing presses, the KCK-121 uses Sonixs, patented sonotrode technology, to produce ultrasonic vibrations to seal the PET and polypropylene straps used to bind pallets of print for delivery. The chief advantage of Sonixs, says Mosca, is that it consumes energy on demand unlike heat seal machines, which require constant energy supply. It also speeds up strapping time and produces a stronger seal, says the vendor.
And while having a gregarious ex-rocker making a noise about the factory for a couple of days, while shooting the video, was good for morale, constant machinery noise can of course be less so. So a real benefit of the Sonixs technology, adds production director Simon Kirby, is that, ironically, it is much quieter than the heat seal technology he’s worked with in the past
“It’s much quieter and maintenance is a lot easier,” he says. “The old machine I worked with was a noisy friction heat seal machine. There was a lot of friction going on to create the heat to seal the ends. But this is just completely noiseless. And it’s quicker too.”
Swanline uses this machine to bind and wrap pallets of the printed corrugated work, including packaging and some POS work, the firm produces anonymously for a wide range of supermarkets and brands.
This kind of print makes up a significant proportion of Swanline’s workload. The company was established in 2001 with just one screen press but has since expanded into a £9m-turnover, 85-staff operation with a 1,400sqm screen and digital operation, housing four screen printers and a new HP FB 10000, and a 3,700sqm wide-format, design and office facility, where the Mosca machine now lives.
Safety first
Swanline had previously done all its strapping manually, but decided to switch to an automated system to reduce the potential for accidents. “Before we were strapping up all the finished pallets by hand with a ratchet and lever mechanism. We had
pallets all over the factory floor, which caused a health and safety issue, with forklift trucks weaving in and out of pallets,” says Kirby. “The people strapping the pallets were in danger of having their toes run over.”
Fortunately, such an incident never occurred, but Swanline didn’t want to tempt fate. And so, having had good experiences with Mosca machines in the past, Kirby ordered the KCK-121.
“Installation went very smoothly; it took about a week to install, maybe less,” reports Kirby. “We did it in conjunction with Interpack, which was installing an automated transfer line for our litho laminating line. So the finished pallets coming off those machines go straight onto a conveyor with the Mosca strapper at the end, and a Mytho stretch wrapper at the end of that.”
Of how the machine works, Kirby continues: “A pallet of sheets is automatically fed onto the conveyor and is read by photo sensors so when the location is clear to move, the next pallet on it jogs forwards, so you can have a line of pallets going through the machine. First of all, the pallet goes onto a centraliser, which arranges the pallet evenly on the conveyor belt going into the machine, so it’s in the centre.
“Then it’s taken underneath the platen press, which is the press that comes down on top of the pallet to give it a bit of compression, and then bayonets fire straps between the rungs of the pallet under-neath and those straps are sealed by the Sonixs heads. If the pallet needs to be strapped the other way as well, there’s a turn-cross that lifts the pallet up and turns it 90 degrees so you can feed the straps through the other side.”
Such nifty, automated technology not only saves staff worrying about their toes, it has also significantly speeded up operations, offering Swanline speeds of 120 pallets per hour or 65 pallets per hour if using the turn-cross to cross strap.
“We have the Mosca running on the back-end of automatic machinery with pallets coming out every two minutes. That doesn’t sound like many, but depending on the thickness of the board, we could be producing 30 or 40 pallets an hour that need to be strapped,” says Kirby.
He adds: “What it does enable us to do is load the lorries quicker; they’re not having to wait for the loads now.”
And the quality of packing has also been enhanced, says Kirby, an important added bonus for a company processing exclusively trade work. “Customers have commented on the presentation. That’s important because we deliver to our customer’s customer. Our customer’s customer thinks that their supplier has done it whereas in fact it’s us – so it is important it’s right first time.”
He adds that the Mytho shrinkwrapping unit, also supplied by Mosca, plays an important part in this. “That’s to keep the weather off and dust out because we do a lot of packaging for food,” he says.
Key to this line boosting Swanline’s efficiency and reputation for quality, has been its unblemished track record for reliability. “This machine may be a little bit more expensive, but the quality and service is second to none. In a busy box plant you don’t want that equipment to break down,” says Kirby.
He adds: “We’ve had no service issues so far, touch wood. We’ve just had our routine annual service. That’s just cleaning out the sealing heads, a bit of lubrication and putting it back together again really, along with servicing the stretch wrapper, the turn-cross and the pallet centraliser. That annual service was an optional extra when the machine was quoted and we decided to have it.”
Unsurprisingly, then, Kirby would wholeheartedly recommend the packing press to others, with the machine able to cope with a wide range of pallet sizes. Any company considering a Mosca would need to consider whether they have the volume to justify it though, he warns.
“This would suit sheet plants, corrugated sheet plants and sheet feeders. It’s mainly for volume factories though, companies producing lots of pallets,” he says, adding: “We can put different size pallets through so it’s very versatile, but some bigger pallets, for some of the wide-format work we do, we have to strap those manually still.”
So sounds of all kinds and decibels are proving a boon for Swanline. Certainly a distinctive Brummie accent is doing wonders for spreading the Swanline word to trade customers. But elsewhere, inaudible sound waves are doing a stellar job too.
SPECIFICATIONS
Compression Up to 3 tonnes
Features Two lances, two Sonixs heads, turn-cross
Max product size 1.5x1.5m
Max speed 2x0 mode: 120 pallets per hour; 2x2 mode: 60-65 pallets per hour
Price For both the wrapper and strapper: £25,000 to over £100,000 depending on spec
Contact Mosca Direct 0115 989 0209 en-uk.mosca.com
Company profile
Established in 2001 with just one single-colour screen press, Swanline Print has grown into a £9m-turnover, 85-staff company today. The firm now boasts four screen printers, a new HP FB 10000 and a range of finishing kit, and deals in specialist printed packaging and POS displays for trade customers.
Why it was bought...
Swanline bought a Mosca KCK-121 automatic pallet packing press in October 2012 primarily to ensure the safety of its workers. “Before we were strapping up all the finished pallets by hand with a ratchet and lever mechanism. We had pallets all over the factory floor; it caused a health and safety issue with forklift trucks weaving in and out of pallets,” says production director Simon Kirby.
How it has performed...
The Mosca KCK-121 has performed perfectly by all accounts, with no service incidents thus far. It has greatly speeded up pallet packing at Swanline’s corrugated print plant, and gives a higher quality finish than packing manually too.
