Case packers and shrink bundlers
Robotic case packing, wrap-around case packing, tray forming and sleeve shrink bundling; chosen by product shape, speed and plastic-reduction goals.
Robotic case packing, wrap-around case packing, tray forming and sleeve shrink bundling; chosen by product shape, speed and plastic-reduction goals.
Case packing and bundling turn single products into transport units at the end of filling and production lines. A robotic case packer places bottles, pouches or cartons into cases by robot, adding vision when the pattern or infeed is not fixed; a product change usually means a new gripper and programme. A wrap-around case packer wraps a flat blank around the grouped products and seals it, saving board at high speed, for regular bottles and cans. A tray former makes open trays for produce or beverage packs. A sleeve shrink wrapper wraps a group of bottles or cans in PE film and shrinks it in a tunnel into a bundle such as a six-pack.
Typical uses
- Bundling and case packing for water, beverages and dairy
- Case packing for food and household products
- Tray packing for fresh produce exports
- Robotic case packing on multi-product lines
How to choose
- Pack format: closed cases by robot or wrap-around packer, open trays by tray former, film bundles by sleeve shrink wrapper
- Product shape and robustness: pouches, odd shapes and fragile glass by robot pick-and-place; regular rigid bottles and cans at speed by wrap-around
- Output and changeovers: robots suit many products and frequent changes
- Plastic reduction and energy: shrink tunnels use a lot of power; for less plastic choose trays or wrap-around cases
When it is not the right choice
- Customers or export markets demand no plastic: no shrink bundling; trays or wrap-around cases
- Pouches, odd shapes or mixed e-commerce SKUs: not wrap-around or drop packing (groups dropped into the case); robotic packing or an erect-and-seal line
- One size of rigid bottles at very high speed: several robots cost more than a wrap-around packer or fast shrink wrapper
Key figures
| Wrap-around packing | About 15–60 cases/min; the upper end per model |
|---|---|
| Tray forming | About 8–80 trays/min (single head about 30/min); the upper end per model |
| Sleeve shrink bundling | Semi-automatic about 8–18 packs/min; automatic about 25–45/min; with trays up to about 65/min in published data, per model |
| Robotic case packing | Rate set by product, gripper and pattern |
| Materials | Corrugated board, trays, PE shrink film |
Figures are typical configuration ranges; exact specifications are set per project.
Options
- Vision-guided picking
- Quick-change grippers
- Tray-and-film combination packs
- Linked with erecting, sealing and palletizing
Scope of supply
- Machine, drives and control cabinet, assembled and dry-run tested before shipping
- The equipment's own control and fleet software; interfaces to your existing WMS / ERP as the project requires
- Drawings: general arrangement, foundation and anchor plan, electrical schematics
- Conformity documents for the equipment and the whole line, the split of responsibilities and the acceptance criteria are set out in the contract according to the project scope
- Spare-parts list and wear-part recommendation; a first batch can ship with the equipment
- Factory acceptance (FAT): attend in person or follow by live video
- Installation, commissioning and operator training can be included in the offer
What we need for an offer
- Product size, weight, packaging material and infeed orientation
- Pattern per case or pack and target speed
- Packaging specs: board size and flute, tray drawing, film width and thickness
- Changeover frequency
- Available power and local mains