Project Goals
The corporate engineering department at a large, international company commenced a project to reduce material costs for a variety of products that are individually packaged on horizontal flow wrappers. Greener Corporation was invited to participate in a series of meetings that defined the project’s initial goals:
- To reduce the cut-off length for each package by reducing the overall seal width, thus allowing the product envelope to remain unchanged.
- To achieve material savings without degrading seal packaging integrity or productivity levels.
- To achieve a project payback period of twelve months or less.
Project Design
The project goals required a comprehensive approach—redesigned sealing crimpers as well as critical support services and expertise that would ensure successful implementation. Greener evaluated the packaging films and multiple flow wrapper makes and models in use at the company’s worldwide production facilities, and developed a proposal that would meet the project goals and provide additional benefits:
- Crimpers with a reduced seal width and Greener’s Seal Reduction Profile—a special, horizontal serration pattern—would maintain, and in some cases even improve, seal integrity and strength.
- On cold seal applications, durable and flexible Kevlar® sealing faces would help eliminate leaks and film fracturing at the fin seal and corners.
- Easy Seal™ QUICK-CHANGE inserts would standardize set up procedures and reduce set up time from hours to minutes.
- Narrower knives and anvils would further reduce the overall seal width and create additional material savings.
- Standardized crimper, knife, and anvil designs would produce more consistent results across multiple machines, lines, and facilities. Set up and adjustment procedures could be streamlined; positive results would be more easily replicated; parts inventories could be reduced.
In order to ensure a smooth transition to the new package design and the consistent, long term success of the project, Greener also:
- Participated in the initial installation and trials of the new design.
- Helped develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) and provided training for set up, adjustment, troubleshooting, and maintenance procedures.
Project Results
In a series of limited trials the new, standardized crimper and knife design proved successful—material costs were reduced, while seal integrity and productivity levels met or exceeded previous levels. A production trial yielded similar positive results. Greener designed and manufactured crimpers with the Seal Reduction Profile and provided supporting services for all applicable production lines at the test plant, and project was successfully implemented.
The Material Cost Reduction Project was established by corporate engineering as a Recommended Best Practice, and Greener has been enlisted to help implement the project at many of the packaged goods company’s facilities around the world.
Whether you need to brainstorm project possibilities or already have specific goals that you’d like to achieve, we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with you. Please direct ideas and questions to your Greener service and sales representatives, or contact us.
