We recently had the opportunity to inspect and service the pallet wrapping machines at a customer’s sites in 2 locations across the UK. The results of the inspections were very interesting.
The first site was fitted with a leading manufacturers machines, contemporary and well-known machines which had been set up to run the Extremus 44 MFNANO12 12 mu Nano technology film from Hazel 4D. On initial setup, the machines were demonstrated to be running at 290% stretch on pallet. The resulting cost savings per pallet wrapped were huge compared to the company’s previous old pallet wrappers which were providing little or no stretch on the film at all. The new machines paid for themselves in just a few months, with the customer also seeing huge reductions in the amount of plastic used and a significant increase in the load stability of the pallets, resulting in a very happy customer.
Fast forward 18 months and the picture is not quite as rosy. On inspection of the machines, it was found that they were operating at 230% stretch on pallet – a whopping 20.7% decrease in performance – resulting in a higher cost per pallet wrapped and a compromised load stability due to the film not being fully optimised. On investigation, the cause of the issue was found to be the pre stretch rollers which were either damaged or badly worn on all of the machines, and we were left with no option but to replace the rollers on all machines at significant cost to the customer to bring the machines back to their previous performance levels of 290% stretch.
The second site had been kitted out at more or less the same time, but with Atlanta Mytho PS machines. The machines had been set up to run the same film as the first site, and with the same pre-stretch settings. 2 of the machines had wrapped over 100,000 pallet each In the 18 month period – an impressive achievement. At the inspection, despite the machines having worked at least as hard, they were found to be continuing to deliver the full 290% stretch just as they had when they were new.
“The secret is in the rollers and the design of the pre stretch system, the unique design of the pre-stretch roller trio is a winning combination that ensures consistently high stretch levels ’, explains our technical sales manager Kevin Oliver, “on the competitors machines, the rollers are coated with a black rubber which wears quite quickly, In addition they require cleaning on a regular basis to ensure that the machine continues to perform, this is a common situation in the market place. In some instances, often due to operator misuse, the film can get tangled in the rollers and this is when the rollers get damaged as operators use knives to cut away the film.
On the Mytho however” Kevin continues, “the roller is manufactured from an innovative and patented rubber compound which is virtually indestructible and does not require the regular cleaning that other pallet wrapper rollers need. This, combined with the superior build quality and the ability to completely lock down the machine so that operators can’t make any adjustments to the settings, means that once an Atlanta machine is set up it will run without any deterioration in performance between services”