Packaging company turns to ALS for novel labelling

With blossoming sales and gross earnings ballooning by a quarter, the packaging giant Huhtamaki is enjoying unprecedented levels of growth.

With blossoming sales and gross earnings ballooning by a quarter, the packaging giant Huhtamaki is enjoying unprecedented levels of growth.

To help it satisfy customer demand, while maintaining high levels of productivity, reliability and accuracy, the company approached Advanced Labelling Systems (ALS) to design a unique labelling machine for its factory in Lurgan.

With annual sales of EUR 2.5 billion and operations in 34 countries, Huhtamaki is one of the world's largest producers and suppliers of rigid, flexible and specialist packaging.

The Huhtamaki factory in Lurgan employs around 400 people and has become one of the top five earners in Northern Ireland.

Doyle Doyle, Electrical Engineer, has worked for the company for three years during which time he has seen the business flourish.

Supplying some of the largest chains in the UK and Europe - including Tescos and Marks and Spencers - the Lurgan plant has four separate production lines to handle growing demand.

Doyle suggests that the company's success comes from its commitment to cater for the most irregular customer requirements.

Doyle says: "We're totally geared around the buyer".

This dedication to customer satisfaction was the catalyst for the company to migrate from direct printing onto the product to applying preprinted labels.

"It started with a customer, which I believe was Tesco, that asked for labels on its egg boxes", Doyle recalls.

"They wanted a labelling system because when the direct printing mechanism failed to print accurately, the barcodes on the egg boxes were unscannable".

The first stop was Avery, who, Doyle explains, suggested ALS as a possible supplier of fast and accurate print and apply machinery.

"We went to Avery because they would be able to identify the best labelling machines on the market, and when one of those big companies suggests something, it's usually a good sign".

ALS was contacted and consequently sent an engineer to assess the setup in the Lurgan factory.

Doyle admits there were a number of specific characteristics that meant an off-the-shelf solution was out of the question.

In particular, ALS had to consider the space restrictions imposed by Huhtamaki's production line and the printing machines that were already in use in the factory.

The solution was to take elements of the ALS 350 high-speed automatic applicator and parts from the ALS 380 labelling head to create a hybrid machine that would provide high levels of speed, accuracy and reliability.

Doyle says: "The deal was they would come up with the machines and we would only pay for them when they were up and running on our system.

ALS took on that challenge and it worked".

The machines, which are capable of dispensing labels at 100m/min, are unique and consequently required an engineer to set them up on-site.

Doyle recalls that the process of ensuring that each machine - one for each production line - was properly assembled and working smoothly took around two weeks.

"It wasn't like one of ALS' usual machines where you just plug in and go", Doyle explains.

The specifications laid down by Doyle meant the new hybrid machines had to cope with labelling 160 boxes per minute in a 24x7 operation, with variable-speed demands and a relatively harsh operating environment.

Moreover, because of the egg-box design used by Huhtamaki, the labellers had to deliver high levels of accuracy, with labels being located to within +/-1mm, to avoid interference with the flap-locking system of the packaging.

The hybrid machines incorporate ALS's Automatic Product Speed Following (APSF) technology, which matches the label dispensing rate to variations in product speed, and feature web break detection and memory facilities to enable multiple product lines to be handled quickly and easily.

Doyle says he was also extremely impressed with the size and accessibility of the machines, making them easy to service.

"We clean each machine once a week, which means we disconnect the machines from the production lines.

Although the ALS machines are bolted on to the line, the roller feet make them very easy to manoeuvre during servicing".

Doyle says Huhtamaki had a servicing agreement with ALS that meant ALS engineers visited the factory once a month to inspect the new labellers.

This agreement became redundant when some of Doyle's electricians went on a training course hosted by ALS on stripping and servicing the hybrid machines.

An ad-hoc service relationship is, however, maintained between Huhtamaki and ALS.

"Like all things", Doyle explains, "sometimes there are problems, but ALS is very prompt and efficient at meeting any service requirements".

An old Chinese proverb reads: "A good customer should never change his shop, nor a good shop change its customers".

It seems that following its migration to applicators, Huhtamaki is unlikely to use any other supplier.

Asked whether he would use ALS machinery again, Doyle answers: "Definitely, they would be the only ones we'd use".

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