Beck shrink-wrapping line answers Alito’s need for increased throughput!
The Alito Color Group has installed a Beck Packautomaten Serienpacker Type SX1546 automatic shrink-wrapping machine as part of a £250,000 investment programme that has also included two MBO folding machines. The Serienpacker was specifically customised and purchased to service a new contract from a major financial institution that required the majority of products to be shrink-wrapped.

Says managing director David Collins: “Since being installed the new Beck wrapping line has been absolutely fantastic. Prior to its installation, our method of packaging was unsatisfactory as it involved several processes and a lot of manual labour, so we needed to find a viable solution. We looked around and found the Beck system, and as a result our packaging process has now been significantly simplified!

“From the Bravo stitching line, items are stacked and then fed via a special Beck-designed L-shaped conveyor to the Serienpacker machine, and from there the shrink-wrapped products are conveyed ready for packing into boxes. It is a much quicker, cleaner and tidier process all round!”

Based in Leyton, East London, the £10 turnover Alito Color Group operates 24/6, producing leaflets, booklets, reports and mailshots on behalf of blue chip companies, in particular financial institutions, as well as agencies. At Alito, the new Beck Serienpacker is handling up to 14,000 items per hour 2-up from the Bravo, and is easily keeping up with the throughput from this or other equipment.

“With margins currently being so tight, we are constantly looking for more cost-effective solutions to our production processes,” says David Collins. “The new Beck Serienpacker shrink-wrapping line has certainly achieved this by not only saving a process and therefore time, but by also requiring fewer staff to operate, who can then be utilised elsewhere!

“There has also been an added bonus on the back of the install as we have managed to secure another contract doing similar type of work, and that helps in keeping a constant flow of work going through the factory.”

Friedheim strengthens Packaging Division with new agency
Friedheim International is pleased to announce that it has been appointed as exclusive agent for the UK and Ireland by Pfankuch Maschinen GmbH. The appointment, which is effective immediately, covers sales, service, spare parts and training for the company’s range of collating and wrapping systems.

With more than 27 years of manufacturing know-how, Pfankuch Maschinen is recognised worldwide for its innovative machine designs and dependable automation. This experience has helped to redefine packaging processes in industries as diverse as print finishing, greetings cards, pre-paid telephone cards, food processing, beverages, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. The modular design of the machines and processes also enables them to incorporate solutions for scoring, folding, barcode reading and controlling, bundling, inkjet printing, gluing and labelling.

Managing director of Friedheim International, Peter Morris, comments: “The addition of Pfankuch Maschinen to our portfolio of companies is very important in the development of our Packaging Division. Along with our existing agency companies, Beck Packautomaten, Audion Elektro etc, this significantly extends the range of packaging solutions we can now offer to customers.”

FRIEDHEIM INTERNATIONAL at the PPMA (Processing & Packaging) SHOW 2009  Hall 5  Stand F40
FRIEDHEIM INTERNATIONAL will be joined on Stand F40 by Beck Packautomaten and Pfankuch Maschinen of Germany, two of the packaging companies represented exclusively in the UK and Ireland.

The main feature of the stand display will be a specially created production line comprising the Multiplex Pico fully automatic film wrapping machine with linked Shrink Tunnel (both supplied by Beck Packautomaten), which will be shrink-wrapping Blu-ray boxes being fed by the Model PSA 450-G Vacuum Shuttle Feeder (supplied by Pfankuch Maschinen).

Also being displayed on the stand will be Pfankuch Maschinen’s Model ASB 175K-BNA Feeder Head ‘Bottleneck Applicator’, which will be demonstrating the placing of promotional bottleneck hangers onto a revolving conveyor of plastic bottles. 

Full details on the rest of Beck Packautomaten’s range of automatic and semi-automatic shrink and sleeve wrapping equipment, plus the full range of feeder, collating and wrapping solutions available from Pfankuch Maschinen, will be available on the stand, along with information of equipment available from Friedheim International’s other packaging suppliers, Audion Elektro (stand-alone and versatile shrink wrapping machines).