Paper Manufacturer – Stretch Wrapping

Project Overview

James Cropper is a market leader in advanced materials and paper products. Established in 1845, the Group manufactures paper, packaging and advanced materials. Led by the Cropper family for six generations, the business has an international workforce and an operational reach in over 50 countries.

The company approached Atlanta UK with a request to cocoon stretch-wrapped paper reels from a new reel winding process at their Burneside site. The objective was to handle various reel lengths up to 2,500mm, reel diameters up to 1,500mm, and weights up to 3,500kgs at rates of up to 22 reels per hour. As the product is often exported, the cocoon wrap process had to fully enclose the reels to create a secure, protective and completely dust and waterproof wrap.

Sector: Paper Manufacturer

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The initial brief was to supply an automatic machine to be integrated within a new process line. The cocoon wrap is a special process requiring simultaneous horizontal rotation of the reel while stretch film is rotated vertically, which must be varied to suit varying reel diameters and lengths.

What we achieved…

Atlanta UK partnered with SCM Handling, the UK’s leading experts in reel handling solutions, to provide a solution that met the project’s requirements.

In agreement with James Cropper, SCM provided a comprehensive reel-handling solution for the project. They integrated the Atlanta UK Revolution machine into the ‘reel wrapper’ specification. The reel handling solution included a fully automated conveying system that transports reels from the Cropper winding machine to the Atlanta UK stretch wrapper. During the wrapping process, the system raises and rotates the reel. After the ‘end over end’ wrapping, further automation transports the reel to a reel up-ender. A robot selects suitable pallets and positions them under the reel as it is automatically upended.

Close mechanical and software integration was required to ensure the SCM reel rotation system and Atlanta UK stretch wrapper operated seamlessly. For this, Atlanta’s software engineers collaborated closely to create a very reliable solution to handle the variety of sizes, plus provide an operator-friendly HMI platform.

Benefit 1

The overall solution provides a robustly engineered, fully automated transfer of wound paper reels, in various sizes and quantities, to a pallet that is then cocoon-wrapped for protection and waterproofing, ready for forklift truck transfer to the warehouse.

Benefit 2

The Atlanta UK Revolution stretch wrapper can be programmed to apply the desired number of protective wraps, and the film pre-stretch system provides high levels of film efficiency with the capability to work with modern nano and re-cycled content films.

Testimonial

“Having known Roger at Atlanta UK from the past, I asked for his advice on this serious challenge. Having spoken to others, his experience was immediately obvious.

“Roger and the SCM team successfully delivered the required solution despite component availability challenges. The project management process was clear and communicative and the installation was completed on schedule. The quality of the machinery is evident.

“We now have a quality process and wrap to match the quality of our product.”

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