Can-do attitude builds machine

Contract Packaging Plus designs its unusual edible-film converting equipment around a vacuum-anvil die that was modeled after a coffee can prototype.

Associate Editor Jorina Fontelera -- Converting Magazine, 9/1/2005

The Chicago Cutting Die vacuum-anvil holds the edible film in place after slitting.

The two-part vacuum-anvil die module dispenses the edible-film strip into odd, then even lanes.

Many people need coffee to get started at work. Jeff Hart, president of Contract Packaging Plus in Elk Grove, IL, did not need coffee to get going on one of his company's projects. He just needed the coffee can.

Simple solution
The company was contracted to make a machine that converts and packages edible film. Having never made that type of equipment before, Hart made a vacuum-anvil die prototype with a coffee can in order to test his idea. He ran a web of edible film on a coffee can with holes and a vacuum attachment to see how the film would release from the vacuum. The film dropped in nearly the same place off the coffee can "die" every time—no matter what the rotating speed.

Now that he knew it would release in the same place consistently, he then tackled the issue of spacing. If the slit film was lined up in a row, the pieces would have too much space in between and would not drop into their downstream packaging cassettes properly. So instead of dropping the film directly underneath the die, Hart and his team decided that they should dispense the strip in odd and even lanes. By staggering the cassettes and strips, the gap between each cassette was narrowed and the strips were able to drop into the package properly.

After successfully testing the converting process with the coffee-can prototype, it was time to build the equipment. "If you've never done it before, you have to do your testing up front, otherwise you're going to fail," Hart says.

Having worked with Chicago Cutting Die Co. before (www.chicagocutting die.com), Hart approached them again for this project's slitting and sheeting needs. "Actually, when we walked in, we knew they were going to say they couldn't do it," Hart recalls. "It was a new challenge for them, but they came through."

Hart asked Chicago Cutting Die to design a two-part vacuum-anvil die module that cuts and dispenses the edible film. One vacuum port controls the even set of strips and the other controls the odd set. The rest of the converting equipment was then built around the die module.

Growing step-by-step
Contract Packaging began building the edible-film converting machine in early 2004. In just 12 weeks, the machine was up and running. It converts a 7-in. wide roll of 2-mil edible film into 60 24-count cassettes per minute. The web is kept in place by a Fife Corp. web-guiding component (www.fife.com) while it is slit into eight ribbons and then sheeted into 1.25-in. long individual strips.

The strips are then dropped into polypropylene cassettes, which are conveyed to a Branson Ultrasonic sealer (www.bransonultrasonics.com) that welds the package shut. The ultrasonic-welding process creates a hermetic seal so that the strips stay dry and usable. "Once you close this (package), its shelf life goes way above any snap together package," Hart says.

This edible-film product flooded the Canadian market in April 2004, but Contract Packaging's client has temporarily decided to stop its sale. At presstime, the client remained undecided on re-releasing the product in Canada.

This edible-film converting equipment is the second machine Contract Packaging made since its founding three years ago. The company also built an indexer with a tablet-counting system for retailer Target. "Because we're small, it's hard to get a lot of big projects," Hart says. "We don't have the facility or capability to warehouse materials and put in packaging lines, so we've been growing step-by-step."

Along with building customized machinery, Contract Packaging specializes in co-manufacturing and provides consultation services to other packagers, mainly in Europe. "To help us get into (the co-manufacturing) business, we would provide the equipment for specialized applications at cost as long as we can get the packaging business," Hart explains.

Currently, the company is in talks about building a third packaging machine. "We have to build a machine and somehow interface it with another machine. It's going to be a good challenge," Hart says.

SPECIFICS:

CONTRACT PACKAGING PLUS:
Elk Grove, IL
OPERATIONS: Co-manufacturing, specialized equipment building and packaging.
PLANT SIZE: 10,000 sq ft

MORE INFO:

CONVERTER:
CONTRACT PACKAGING PLUS, 847/437-5009, fax: 847/437-5707, www.aboutcpp.com

SUPPLIERS:
CHICAGO CUTTING DIE CO., 800/747-3437, fax: 847/509-0355, www.chicagocuttingdie.com
BRANSON ULTRASONICS CORP. - APPLIED TECHNOLOGIES GROUP, 203/796-0400, fax: 203/796-9838, www.bransonultrasonics.com
FIFE, INC., 800/639-3433, fax: 405/755-8425, www.fife.com