Quick Solutions and Cost Reductions Make Rose Forgrove
Standard at Müller
In an effort to reduce overheads and increase throughput, Müller knew that they had to invest in suitable technology to reduce the number of staff allocated to their Manual Flow Wrapping lines within the Repackaging Operation. Over the past five years demand for Müller’s popular Flow Wrap / Sleeved Products had grown from 60 million to 400 million pots per year all packaged at their Market Drayton facility in the UK. The increase in labour needed to address the new demand would have reduced their competitiveness. However, a response from Rose Forgrove resulted in the supply to Müller of a high-speed Integra capable of 80 wraps per minute as well contribution to a significant reduction in labour costs while maintaining output. The Integra has been added to Müller’s existing stock of four Rose Forgrove Merlins and a Minerva.
Gary Highfield (Raw Material / Repackaging Production Manager) of Müller says, “It is Rose Forgrove’s responsiveness that keeps us coming back to them for machinery, and in this case, because of its adaptive and advanced programming, the Integra was successfully added to the existing portfolio of Rose Foregrove Flow Wrap machines. We have also come to expect quick solutions, service and innovation from Rose Forgrove. They are near by and frequently can be on-site within a couple hours with a solution to a problem.” The Integra accommodates a wide range of product sizes and Müller considered that any new machinery purchased must also be flexible enough to handle future products. In the US, Rose Forgrove is based in Lancaster, PA.
Gary also commented that Rose Forgrove’s ability to respond quickly to machine requests has allowed Müller to bring product into their competitive market far more quickly than they otherwise might have.
Further cost savings in reduced service calls and production downtime have been realized through the use of the modem connection between the Integra and Rose Forgrove’s Nottingham office in the UK, which allows simple software programs to be debugged remotely. The Integra has also improved the pack quality as its jaw motion traps far less air inside the bag making for better product presentation and easier downstream case packing.
Maintenance is also far easier as the gull-wing style main door grants spacious access to jaws, belts, and infeed and discharge components. However, maintenance will be infrequent on account of the high-quality chain used in the eight metre long infeed conveyor. Particular attention was paid to this component as undue stretching would lead to more frequent, and costly, chain replacements and maintenance.
Other features that make the new Integra flow-wrapping line more efficient and reliable are the various product sensors including product-stack height verification, no-product – no-pack sensors, automatic film splice device and lot number print and verify device. The Integra also incorporates an extremely effective HMI system which easily provides effective understanding of each element of the machine.