Kruger's Investment (CONT’D FROM PAGE 26
The back end of the machine is a symphony of pro- cesses linking together a long and highly automated line consisting of Plexpack shrink tunnels, Bobst bundle break- ers, and Mosca bundlers. RDC 2 has half the capacity of RDC 1, with a single pizza line and the capability to run straightline die-cuts. “No one has ever had these DROs with these kind of back ends. It’s really something,” said Keith. “It’s almost like working on a corrugator.” A fifth bay is available for an additional Bobst machine, make and model to be decided. Rotary dies, printing plates and ink buckets are stored on a mezzanine above the manufacturing area serviced by an elevator for auto- matic transport to the converting lines. Dies are kept on a BCM Transtech semi-automatic storage rack system. Inks are supplied by Quantum Ink Co. Material transport is fully automated from the corruga- tor to finished goods and integrates a vertical WIP ware- house from WSA-USA. WSA’s scope of supply included: • Fully automatic material handling system including a Vertical WIP Storage and iFAS Smart Factory Auto- mation System. The four level rack system is located between the corrugator and converting and has a foot- print of approximately 15,000 square-feet. It includes 288 cells and is serviced by two Korber stacker cranes. It can store approximately 8 million square-feet of in-process product.
The corrugator interfaces with Kiwiplan for scheduling. At plant level, Kruger is running Advantive’s full Kiwiplan order to cash software solution. Within the supply from Ad- vantive, Kruger is also running TSS (Transportation Sched- uling Solution) to coordinate shipping and QMS (Quality Management System) on the floor. Utilizing the suite of Ki- wiplan solutions, coupled with the array of state-of-the-art equipment, this plant is quickly becoming a showcase for how the industry can move toward full automation. Besides the traditional Kiwiplan scheduling modules, Elizabethtown is also running several automated links to machines that include: • Rollstock automated link to capture automatic con- sumption at the wet-end; • Normal dry-end link; • Automated Strapper links; • Automated Conveyor link to WIP; • In-process links to the four converting machines. Symphony of Processes For converting, there are four high-speed Bobst ma- chines: two identical DRO die-cutters, an 8.20 Expertline flexo folder gluer that runs at 24,000 boxes an hour, and a 1228 FFG. All of the machines are four-color with Inkspec viscosity control systems. Both die-cutters have IR dryers from JB Machinery. Where the die-cutters differ is their back end configuration. RDC 1 is a dedicated pizza line.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 30
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