Equipment manufacturer Sidel has launched a new Cermex WB47 case packer, expanding its WB wrap-around range to handle not only the wrap-around blank family, but also American cases (RSC and HSC). Additionally, the Parma, Italy-headquartered group’s WB platform ensures enhanced flexibility with shorter changeover times. 

In 45 years, Sidel has installed more than 8,000 packers, including 1,000 wrap-around machines. More than 130 units of the best-seller Cermex WB46 and the new Cermex WB47 have already been manufactured in four years.

Responding to demand for greater flexibility

The current market situation demands greater adaptability of equipment that is capable of handling various combinations of primary and secondary packaging grouped in many batch sizes and configurations. Concurrently, production runs are becoming shorter, meaning that high flexibility with reduced downtime and fast, easy and repeatable changeovers for case packing are essential. Meeting the various requirements of supermarkets, discount stores, online retailers and more, the Cermex WB packing platform is “truly unique” for the Food sector, Sidel claims.

“The Cermex WB’s case-packing range is able to handle a great variety of primary and secondary packaging types, including complete wrap-around blanks, trays, trays with ledges, two-piece packaging (tray plus lid), and provide Shelf-Ready Packaging (SRP) and easy-to-open functionalities,” informed Didier Saussereau, Packing Product Manager at Sidel. “With the Cermex WB47, Sidel extends the flexibility and adaptability of the solution even more.” 

 

The new case packer makes it possible to run RSC and half slotted cases (HSC) with an increased speed of 22 cases per minute compared to 15 cases per minute with the traditional RSC case-packing range. Moreover, the wrap-around version can run at up to 30 blanks per minute. This means that if some brand owners are still operating today with RSC cases, choosing a WB47 still allows them to switch easily in the future to wrap-around blanks, thanks to this common platform and a simple upgrade kit, the firm told us. 

Reducing downtime, maintaining consistency

Additionally, the WB case-packing platform can perform ‘easy-to-operate’ up to fully automatic changeovers, thus reducing downtime when changing products, packaging, batch sizes or configurations. The average time for the changeover is five minutes, depending on the version.

For those manufacturers who already have Cermex WB46 machines in their workshop, the new Cermex WB47 will not only widen their secondary packaging options but will also maintain consistency of case-packing assets, with operators and maintenance staff easily trained, while optimising spare parts management. “This was the case with two global brand-owners who were satisfied with their well-known, proven and reliable Cermex WB46 solutions and decided to acquire the new WB47 to complete their packaging options,” advised Mr Saussereau.