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 Grupo Vitro - Necessary Update in Packaging Equipment
Vidriera Monterrey S.A. a member of Grupo Vitro, recently invested in new end-of-line packaging equipment to optimize load stability at its production facility in Monterrey, Mexico, which manufactures various glass containers for the Mexican as well as foreign markets. The company has commissioned a shrink wrapping system supplied by Lachenmeier Ltda., Sao Paulo, Brasil and the result have been favorable so far.
To improve its packaging concept, Grupo Vitro wanted to change their existing wrapping system with stretch film to an alternative shrink wrapping system due to their existing system being outdated and presenting an unacceptable load stability and a poor visual appearance upon arrival at the customer's.
Experiences from other Grupo Vitro plants had shown that they needed a shrink wrapping system. However, they wanted a more flexible burner systems, instead of the traditional ring burner systems offering no possi-
bility of adjustment to each side of the load. Ring burner systems that they also have at Grupo Vitro's other plants.
"Due to our varying pallet sizes and the non-existent possibility of adjusting the burners individually, the variations in distance between the burner and the product often resulted in first of all an uneven shrinking and thus an unstable load and secondly a fragile shrink result due to the heat being too strong on some areas and too weak on others. At worst, the film and product were overheated creating perforations in the film hood," explains Mr. Alfredo Vazquez Rodriquez, Technical Staff, Grupo Vitro.
According to Mr. Vazquez, one of the reasons for Grupo Vitro choosing the Lachenmeier shrink system was the burner system characterized by four individually adjustable burners. In case of variations in product dimensions, it is now possible to adjust the heat distribution automatically to each single product, simply by pre-programming the gas/air mix and the force with which the heat is lead to the product. The longer the distance, the larger the supply of heat. As a consequence, all four sides of the product are exposed to the same temperature during the shrinking, even though the dimensions may vary from product to product.
The OEM contacted Lachenmeier at the Interpack exhibition in Düsseldorf, Germany in their search for a new packaging solution. After several meetings between Grupo Vitro, Mr. Jens Lachenmeier (Sales Manager at Lachenmeier Ltda., Brasil) and Tecnoco S.A. (Mexico City), Lachenmeier's local repre-
sentative, Grupo Vitro chose to order a Lachenmeier combined shrink wrapping system.
Grupo Vitro produces 2.1 million glass bottles a day, 365 days per year at their Monterrey factory, one of 6 glass factories in Mexico, which requires a fully automatic packaging system capable of packing more than 50 pallets with varying dimensions per hour (48” x 40” + 56" x 44", height 106 inch.). Lachenmeier’s shrink systems can pack up to 100 pallets per hour. The shrink wrapping machine wraps mainly coca cola pallets, which are exported to the USA. The glass bottles are packed in carton trays.
“The LACHENMEIER shrink wrapping system consists of applying a film hood over the product. The heat sensitive plastic film is then exposed to heat, which makes the film shrink and thereby adapt to the shape of the product”, explains Mr. Lachenmeier. Some of the advantages of the shrink wrapping system are the waterproof packaging and the five-sided protection.
“The new system clearly meets our needs for increased product safety and improved load stability. We have not yet any figures regarding our savings, but our end customer, Coca Cola in the USA, is very satisfied with the new packing of their products. Likewise, we have experiences a considerable increase in productivity on this part of our packaging line", confirms Mr. Vazquez. He added that the need for operation personnel is no longer necessary to the same extent as with their previous system, because they have eliminated the strapping processes and thereby labor.
“The LACHENMEIER machine is very well built and their support is first-class”, added Mr. Vazquez. “We have entered a 3-year contract including preventive service of our machine 3 times per year. It is always possible to get assistance from a technician at short notice as LACHENMEIER has service facilities in Florida, USA. Furthermore, LACHENMEIER's local representative, Tecnoco S.A. de C.V. is able to render assistance sending their own technicians as well as they have spare parts in stock. If we where to implement yet another packaging machine, we would choose machinery from LACHENMEIER. We are very satisfied", concludes Mr. Vazquez.
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