Packaging
Benson Group removes bottleneck with BOBST MASTERFOLD investment
Wednesday 16. June 2010 - Benson Group has ordered two, high speed BOBST MASTERFOLD lines for its Integrated Packaging plant in Gateshead, Tyne & Wear. The lines will replace four existing machines.
Mark Kerridge, Managing Director of Benson Group, said, “Having recently invested in both print and diecutting to release bottlenecks in production at Integrated Packaging we now need to attend to finishing. The folder-gluers at the plant are the oldest in the Group and the strategy behind ordering two new BOBST MASTERFOLD lines is to balance capacity there.”
The two lines are MASTERFOLD 75 A1 versions of the folder-gluer, each complete with a BOBST EASYFEEDER GT automatic feeder and a CARTONPACK GT automatic carton packer for high speed, reduced labour operation. Together the lines will deliver sufficient production to replace four of the plants existing folder-gluers and also create additional capacity.
Mark Kerridge said, “Our core market for Integrated Packaging is high volume sleeves and straight-line boxes for food packaging and these machines will be ideal for producing these products. Across the group we have had great success with BOBST ALPINA, the forerunners to the MASTERFOLD, and we expect the same from these new lines. Our ALPINA lines run at high speed with great consistency on long runs, twenty four hours a day, six days a week. It is this mixture of speed and consistency that gives us the production levels we need and we will use the productivity of the new MASTERFOLD lines to help drive organic growth at Integrated Packaging.”
The purchase of the machines follows a review of folder-gluer operations at Integrated Packaging by Bobst Group (UK & Ireland) Ltd. Craig Moran, Sales Manager – Folding Carton for Bobst said, “At Bobst we have in-depth knowledge among our UK based staff about the production needs of customers like Benson Group. Lee Alton, our Product Manager for folder-gluers carried out a systematic and highly detailed analysis of the gluing department at Integrated Packaging and recommended the replacement of four existing equipment with two, high speed lines and the re-alignment of folder-gluer bays to create a better workflow. This analysis, informed by the extensive product and production knowledge of someone like Lee, helped Benson Group make this investment decision.”
The A1 variant of the MASTERFOLD is a straightline carton version and Benson Group has ordered the machines with a speed upgrade to 700 metres per minute. The lines will be installed in two phases, one machine being installed in the second half of this year and the other during 2011.