Product category:
Food and drink manufacturing: packaging and bottling equipment
News Release from: LINPAC Materials Handling | Subject: Reel Pack reusable reel delivery system
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 10 July 2003
Reusable reel delivery system eliminates
one-trip
An innovative and versatile reusable reel delivery system dispenses with traditional one-trip packaging and associated packaging waste.
Cadbury Adams, part of confectionery and beverage giant Cadbury, is pioneering the use of Reel Pack; an innovative and versatile reusable reel delivery system, which dispenses with traditional one-trip packaging and associated packaging waste Manchester-based Cadbury Adams produces a vast range of lozenges and cough sweets for markets all over the world
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 16 Dec 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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Traditionally the 70 kilo film laminate reels used in Cadbury Adams' auto re-closable bag production had been delivered from supplier Alcan Packaging - Midsomer Norton in expensive one-trip polystyrene and cardboard packaging, secured to a wooden pallet by polythene wrapping and plastic web strapping which took several minutes to remove.
This system was unsatisfactory for a number of reasons, resulting in huge volumes of bulky packaging waste which was costly to dispose of, whilst not always achieving 100% product protection for the film laminate during transportation.
LINPAC's ergonomic packaging solution 'Reel Pack' comprises a vacuum formed tray with moulded 'cradles' which keep the reels securely in position.
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Locators in the tray's base fit directly onto pallets, giving the load optimum stability.
Each tray can accommodate four 28,000 metre reels, equating to sixteen hours production time.
The same Reel Pack tray can be used as a top or base and the unit is robust and durable enough to allow the pallets to be double stacked in transit.
This doubles vehicle capacity when compared to the previous expendable system, where mixed loads and uneven stack weights often led to pack or reel distortion and damage.
Reel Pack requires minimal additional packaging; two plastic web straps fit into locator channels to secure the top to base, whilst polythene shrink-wrap gives hygiene protection to the pack.
When the pack is unwrapped, rather than being discarded these elements are recycled, making this a 100% waste-free packaging system.
When emptied of their load, the Reel Pack trays have been designed to interlock up to 14 units high per pallet, minimising storage space in the Cadbury Adams warehouse and facilitating their return to Alcan Packaging.
"We've been very impressed by the ingenuity of LINPAC's solution and the quick turn around from prototype to production," agree Cadbury Adams packaging technologist, Gregory Lomax and Alcan Packaging technical services representative, Nick Edgell.
"We are sure Reel Pack will offer tremendous benefits to users of film and reeled product in all sorts of industries.".
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