Serving up savings for foil tray production - In a bid to reduce raw material wastage from its aluminium foil tray forming press tool, Nicholl Food Packaging eventually turned to a cost-effective servo solution

摘要

Demand for packaging products has soared in recent years, a trend driven predominantly by the pre-prepared foods business. As production volumes have increased, flexibility and the need to minimise costs have become more critical factors for companies involved in this market, such as Nicholl Food Packaging, a producer of aluminium foil trays and containers. Until recently, the company produced its containers at three UK locations. Following restructuring of the business in 2004, the decision was taken to amalgamate two of these UK facilities into one purpose-built plant. The planned move of production to the new facility gave NicholPs engineering team the opportunity to look at ways to improve the performance of its presses. One of the biggest problems facing the company is that of waste - over 60% of the cost of production is raw materials - in NicholPs case, aluminium foil. Because aluminium is a high value commodity, conservation is vital in maintaining profitability. Achieving minimum wastage requires that the presses operate accurately and with a high degree of repeatability.