Wrapper with cold stretch film

No simple path but a highly stimulating one that undertaken by Forpac in order to develop Styron, a highly innovative technological project that looks at the world of packaging with an eye to eco-sustainability, and one for which the firm has chosen SEW-Eurodrive for its automation solutions.

Forpac srl is a small enterprise dedicated to the design and production of capital goods, installations, packaging machines
and end of line solutions that brings together high profile designers qualified in packaging and with profound knowledge of the
various sectors.
This has made it possible for the firm, in response to consumers’ increasingly demanding needs, to conceive a range of “green” packaging machines that combine low energy consumption with reduced plastic consumption.

Styron: development
to the machine
Forpac’s initial idea was to flesh out a new packaging concept that uses cold stretch film to package products, thereby eliminating heatshrink ovens from the process. The first and most significant outcome of this new concept - in addition to reducing the raw materials needed during wrapping - was the energy saving made possible by the absence of the oven. Styron has thus been created as an ideal response to the market’s ever more pressing demands of flexibility and versatility.
Forpac’s first challenge was to overcome the reservations of some partners, who were ill-disposed to change mindsets concerning the handling of product packaging. These reservations were set aside partly thanks to the forward-looking vision of major companies as they adopted this innovative idea.
The value of the project and the marked sensitivity to environmental issues of certain internationally renowned companies - including Lavazza - thus made it possible to delve further, meeting all requirements.
Of note in Forpac’s story is its partnership with SEW-EURODRIVE (a leader in automation and transmission). The first wrapping prototype for coffee in cans developed by the partnership saves over 62% on energy and 64% on film.

The heart of a “total quality system”
Styron has thus been born out of the felicitous combination of SEW-EURODRIVE’s technological competence and Forpac engineering.
Recourse to innovative technical solutions has enabled creating a modular structure that, depending on the desired operating speed and product, can be configured with one or multiple modules.
Each individual module performs packaging functions (film feed, packaging infeed, wrapping) independently but in a synchronized fashion. The control system is configured with a SEW-EURODRIVE Movi-PLC Power, which communicates with the operator panel for management of products and motion control.
A variable number of axes, from 6 to 12, can be present on each module, alternating with an electronic cam.
Confirming the eco-sustainable properties of the project, all machine slave motions are performed using MoviGear, an innovative permanent magnet and high yield (IE4) mechatronic system.
The system’s maximum configuration to date (with 3 modules for loose bottles and a module for second wrapping) has been with 46 drives, guaranteeing maximum control and precision, with total energy consumption measuring 9 kW/h.

The system, equipped with remote access, thus enables total control and constant monitoring, resulting in a total quality system for complete end user satisfaction.
To date, the Styron packaging machine - which is patented in over 150 countries - has been installed with trusted solutions by concerns active in both the food and the beverage sectors.
The modular configuration of the system enables satisfying diverse production potentials, packaging types (both for logistical packaging destined for large retailers and for retail packaging, loose and rewrapped on 6 or 4 sides), but also different products (bottles, packs, cans), responding to all requirements indispensable to a quality packaging: protection, transparency, stability of the packaging and of the palletized load, energy saving, film saving. And... last but not least, Forpac’s eagerness to please, always in line with the dictates of “responsible design and production of packaging” expressed in the Ethical Packaging Charter. Because…  «responsible packaging is quality packaging, that which combines protecting the environment with meeting the demands of all users», www.cartaeticadelpackaging.org  

Why an Ethical Packaging Charter
The project for the Ethical Packaging Charter  has materialised in the encounter between the world of university-based research (Milan Polytechnic), trade publishing (ItaliaImballaggio, Edizioni Dativo), sectorial associations representing business concerns (Istituto Italiano Imballaggio); the result is an open document that urges the commitment of all stakeholders involved in the design, the production and the use of packaging.

The Ethical Packaging Charter relates the level of rights, the level of principles with the level of values in order to sanction an ideal contract between the stakeholders of the system: so that they might commit themselves towards principles to be shared, without superimposing themselves on regulations, this by making their choice public. To support the project link to www.cartaeticadelpackaging.com