Set Up to Fail a Factory Acceptance Test We recently had a challenging factory acceptance test. The  product was not yet on the market so the boxes were not filled to the right levels with the real product. The cartons we had to wrap were made by hand and therefore not consistently folded. They had […]

The four components to make the wrapping process work are the wrapping machine the product the wrapping material the operator and mechanics Seems pretty simple doesn’t it? But most people forget the impact of changing just one component on the whole process. No question but our FA-ST servo overwrappers are complex machine with lots of […]

Teaching a wrapping machine involves hands on learning. It is also a two-way street. While our customer’s staff need to learn the ins and outs of our overwrapper, we need to make sure that we understand their product and how it behaves while being wrapped. There are four component to a successful transition: a machine […]

If you are buying a wrapping machine, you are worrying about delivery time the same way you worry about delivering your product on time. One impacts the other. I was recently discussing a food customer who has high seasonal variability. Their solution is to hire unskilled  temporary workers to operate their machines and use trained […]

We agonize over the design concepts of overwrapping machines and the detailing that goes on in engineering, but the real issues often show up late in the assembly process: fine tuning the wrapping machine for the specific product and wrapping material. Sometimes it is a shim or an adjustment that is mechanical in origin. Sometimes […]

Last spring my husband decided that our big storage closet needed to be reorganized, something he is very good at. At the end he handed me a stack of boxes and said “Do something with these.” One was a mantilla my grandmother had worn to meet two Popes. Another turned out to be a flag […]

Starting a food business involves finding production facilities, a business plan and fundamental packaging.

For a while now, we have been providing a guest post to the Foodpreneur Domenick Celentano. Food & Beverage on About.com focuses on food and beverage trends food entrepreneurs need to know plus tips and techniques for starting a food business or growing a food business. Our role is to provide advice on packaging and […]

Whether it is the customer with fifteen SKUs to overwrap, the one with five wrap sizes or the one that wants to wrap double stacks of some SKUs but not others, changeover on overwrapping equipment can be time consuming. Servo controls shorten the time by allowing for recipe storage and digital setting of parameters.This feature […]

Manufacturers should help educate consumers about packaging disposal

Treats being offered at our booth S 1251.

There are lots of new wrapping materials out there today.  Between normal new product introductions and deletions, we are also seeing films from new sources, such as cellulose, and corn. Reductions in gauge as a way of reducing both weight and cost is also a factor in changing wrapping materials. We see many customers switching […]

There is  a great recent article Maximizing Your Equipment Life by Determining Failure Modes by Terry Harris, in which he discusses how machinery failures can be prevented and preventive care enhanced. He says, “I have been in a few textile and oilseeds plants where the fan guard on the motor is covered with product. This […]

Collaboration and sharing knowledge and expertise of product and wrapping machine is key to successful implementation and start up. Nothing substitutes for knowledgeable people working together.

how checklists improve performance

The purchase price to buy a wrapping machine should be weighed against the cost to operate  the wrapper. A cheap old machine that runs fast may not give you the throughput you require because of learning curve, set up time, maintenance expense. Initial purchase price can be misleading in that it does not include start […]

To get the best performance from your wrapper, invest time as well as money in it. Here is what to do.

Yesterday we were touring a customer’s facility. We had not been there in a long while and were amazed at the change in the atmosphere. Staff on the production floor smiled at us and looked us in the eye. If nothing else teaches us, that taught us that management makes a big difference. We got […]

Lots of companies that now build packaging machinery use servo motors. Back in 2001, when we started building our overwrapping machines using servo motors, we had to explain why we were doing it and heard lots of stories of breakdowns or inadequate support on servo  wrappers. Today most plant managers and engineers understand the benefits […]

You need a packaging machine. You pretty much know what kind of machine you like. You place an order for your wrapping equipment. Now What? Show up for the Factory Acceptance Test. These guys are your partners in a successful installation.  In fact, come visit ahead, if you can, to see how it is going […]