Pallets: stretching with care

BINDING MACHINES Mecwrap has developed a line of ring system machinery for wrapping and stabilizing palletized loads with stretch film. Distinctive features: original mechanics, superior performance and reliability “certified” by the University of Bologna, an excellent cost/performance ratio and extreme ease of use.

“Warning: Mecwrap binding machines and accessories cannot be compared with others”. The message is of course rather tongue-in-cheek, but it is also true: the young company out of Diegaro di Cesena (its first machine, Boxter brand, was released in 2007) was founded in order to develop original and innovative solutions for stabilizing palletized loads, stretch film pallet wrappers in particular. Of course seeking to invent something new as an end unto itself was not the concern’s intention, but rather to design machines superior to conventional ones in both quality and performance, in such a way as to offer the user a concrete economic advantage.

The foundations were thus in place, as was the knowhow.
In fact, Mecwrap was founded by three partners (currently the heads of the concern’s R&D, production and strategic management), with profound technical knowledge developed over decades of work in the sector. The concern’s first pallet wrapper was built on these competencies: a machine that is state-of-the-art, powerful, high performance and at the same time capable of containing consumption costs. «We installed one for an important customer - recounts Raniero Lombardi, majority partner and managing director - who provided some very positive feedback and a precious piece of input: an installation shouldn’t just be performing and reliable, but also easy to use, as easy as possible».

This statement is echoed in the market: in four years «and before even setting up a complete sales network» Mecwrap has sold approximately 60 binding machines. In the meantime, the concern has completed its offer with models of various speeds (up to 140 pallets/hr) and every type of accessory, from feeders, separate or incorporated into the leg, to automatic reel loaders and conveyor belts, from translating carriages to rotating stations and corner-adding devices...

Making special the norm
At Mecwrap, renewal begins with the frame. «Our machines - affirms Lombardi - need first of all to be reliable, and therefore solid and robust. Our binding machines feature 4 uprights and can rotate as much as 70 rotations/min without wobbling or vibrating; furthermore, they have been designed and scaled with wide tollerances, following criteria and calculations made with experts at the University of Bologna’s faculty of mechanical engineering, in order to guarantee long-lasting precision to the rotation, ascent and descent of the ring, even at very high speed and in any environment. In short: extreme reliability over time.

All the components - transmissions, guided chain sets, pinions, supports... - are built and assembled in accordance with this logic, and likewise for the electric and electronic parts; we only use reliable brand name products that are available everywhere. In other words, we don’t have a standard low cost model and versions that cost more because they are better equipped: at Mecwrap, the quality is included in the price».
To this value is added that of the original technical solutions themselves, patents pending, designed in order to preempt upstream the weaknesses of the typical pallet wrapper. The machine’s structure has been carefully revisited in order to understand what needed to be redesigned. «First of all, we examined the general stability of the machine - the managing director explains - which is often compromised by the centrifugal force generated at high speeds.

And so, in order to prevent complications, we decided to support the reel-loader on the ring, in order to transmit the impact onto it, making for a new pallet wrapper concept. Another series of radical changes were made concerning the pre-stretch carriage, which we can mechanically set from time to time as an inverter). All this enables dispensing the film in a homogeneous and regular way, in order to guarantee constancy of consumption over time, so that the relevant costs can be planned with considerable savings in material over conventional systems, even by as much as 10-15%.
Today, in fact, multinationals (and they are not alone) have a very ambitious common goal: produce 4-5% more at 4-5% less cost. Mecwrap can’t help the customer produce more, but it can certainly be an extremely reliable partner in reducing costs».

And the gripper?
Another of the typical weakpoints of pallet wrappers has to do with the system of hot cutting and sealing the end of the reel, which often proves unreliable and prone to wear over time, often leaving the film to flutter freely. This leads, for example, to problems with LGV routing and the outline checks in automatic storage systems. «We have replaced it with a cold cutting system, combined with a new loose end fixing device capable of guaranteeing optimal and definitive setting. Also in this case - the entrepreneur points out - we started with the problems cited by many customers, and we made them ours, working relentlessly until we found a solution. This is a more committed kind of relationship, but it is also the only kind that can lead to trust and new ideas, and ultimately, mutual economic benefit».

To the end user’s benefit
Mecwrap began operating in the tissue sector, where it probed itself as a go-to supplier, then extending its field of action to the food sector as well, in which its customers are similarly renowned and globalized. Its product range satisfies the needs of concerns large and small alike, and generally speaking, it works better with concerns who in policy and approach to the market pay attention not only to a machine’s price but equally as much to its intrinsic quality and use.
«We are preferred by those who can comprehend a technical description and can see that our machines not only allow saving on initial expense but also soon confer strictly financial advantages, and those who see that the long time warranty of our machines, together with guaranteed maintenance service, represents not only an economic advantage, but also the certainty of reliability. For this reason, Mecwrap products and services guarantee a return on investment in very short time».
Solid arguments, then, directed primarily toward the kind of end user for whom Mecwrap has made itself a partner and problem solver, and which sustains its growth.
That includes abroad: «We have installed machines all over the globe, which now represent a good 40% of our turnover. Thanks to our users, we can make a name for ourselves in the markets that count without having to directly manage exports, and focus our resources on gradual, solid and constant growth».