Interpack Press Report
KHS Provides Extensive Innovative Package with Plenty of Extra Benefits
In focus: new generation of shrink tunnels, shrink packing without shrinkage holes, and new online film printing New developments fully tailored to meet the demands and requirements of the customer and the market will be the focus of the KHS exhibition booth at Interpack 2011. Among the innovations KHS GmbH will be offering to its clients are a new shrink tunnel concept, a newly developed procedure for the manufacture of shrink packs without shrinkage holes, and new online film printing for the coding of shrink packs. Among the many extensive advantages of the new generation of KHS shrink tunnels that give this system a great deal of future potential is its modular design with a basic platform which can be extended as required. Various functions can thus be easily integrated into the shrink tunnel concept at a later stage. In order to achieve the best possible shrink results for each individual shrink pack, KHS uses adjustable hot air nozzles. The air flow can be set exactly as required to fully suit the individual pack format with regard to both height and width. The hot air nozzles are positioned manually by adjusting spindles and using a digital position indicator. The nozzles can also be positioned using electronic operator prompting. The amount of air required for a perfect shrink result can be configured for each individual nozzle, either manually using a hand lever or electronically by servo motors. The new generation of KHS shrink tunnels also features an optimized heating chamber, using ventilators whose flow behavior is a further improvement on that of the previous generation. Depending on the size of the shrink tunnel, KHS reckons that this new flow technology will result in a 10% to 15% reduction in the amount of energy consumed. With the optional energy-saving package that can be integrated into the concept, energy savings of up to 20% as opposed to previous systems are possible. The new generation of shrink tunnels can also be heated by gas instead of using classic electric heating. In comparison to electric heating, gas heating can reduce energy costs by up to 50%. The newly developed KHS shrink packer manipulating unit promises to provide even better pack stability for shrink film packs by wrapping containers in shrink film without the formation of shrinkage holes. This option is particularly interesting when larger container formations are to be shrink wrapped, such as packs of 24 cans. The clear advantage here is that the new system more or less eradicates the danger of containers becoming displaced within the shrink pack. Another benefit of shrink film packs being formed without shrinkage holes is the potential saving this entails. The trays or cardboard pads that were previously needed to keep the pack stable are now no longer required. This also means that cardboard no longer needs to be handled in the logistics chain, with this cut in materials tantamount to a vast potential drop in costs. Added to this is the fact that the environment also considerably profits from the use of fewer packaging materials. KHS is also able to give the beverage, food, and non-food industries even more reliability, ease of operation, machine availability, and targeted cost reductions with another of its new developments: online film printing. The biggest plus of this innovation is that the online print, applied by a thermotransfer printing system upstream of the film cutting station, is on the inside of the film packaging. Damage or manipulation of the coding is thus ruled out right from the start. Besides the classic barcoding of shrink packs, the new system also allows other prints to be applied, such as logos or additional information on the product, etc. The printed item can be positioned at will. The system is not only beneficial regarding the cost of materials; it also increases the availability of the machine as online film printing makes changing label reels on the label dispensers used to date in the industry superfluous.
