Variable pre-stretch provides options for Heineken pallet-wrap at Italian bottling site

Heineken’s Borgonuovo site in  the north of Italy has two new Genesis high-speed automatic rotating ring wrapping systems supplied by Robopac, with both offering variable pre-stretch.

Supplied in the summer, the two Genesis machines are equipped with Robopac’s patented Cube Level 2 variable pre-stretch technology. The patent provides for the rotation of the pre-stretch rollers by means of independent brushless motors and a system of satellite rings and belts, without the need for sliding contacts or power transmission on the pre-stretch carriage. 

According to the Aetna group company, this guarantees very high reliability and minimises Total Cost of Operation (TCO). At the same time, it allows excellent wrapping quality and load stabilisation with the highest possible film savings. The supplier estimates that those savings could be of between 30% and 50% on the amount of film used, compared with standard pallet wrapping. 

Robopac describes its Cube technology as ensuring that exactly the right amount of film is delivered to exactly the right places with exactly the right amount of containment force.

The latest version of the Genesis system can wrap up to 80 pallets in an hour, says the supplier, on standard pallet sizes up to 1,450 x 1,450mm.

The pallet-wrapping is part of a much larger installation, with the plant also taking delivery of Orion HM top-down palletising technology and pallet-handling systems across the end-of-line area.

Ocme, another part of the Aetna group, first installed case packers at the Borgonuovo site back in 1998. Now, two more Altair machines have been added to these and to other packing systems in the factory.

With Altair, says Aetna, high speed, efficiency and precision are combined to produce a compact and thin cartonboard package, designed to hold products securely with a hot-melt glue seal. The solution chosen by Heineken has a production capacity of up to 60 cartons per minute and is characterised by improved flexibility. This is said to make it suitable for loading multiple container types, including plastics and glass, in round, square, oval or other profiles, into a range of packages, such as easy-to-open cartons or trays.

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www.aetnagroup.com