There is no more waiting for the stretch wrapping machines at Leitchfield Plastics. A new automated wrap system there has saved time, money and labor.

Located in Leitchfield, Ky., the company produces custom injection-molded parts for appliance manufacturers, such as General Electric. Completed parts are packaged into cartons or plastic bins and then palletized. Lift trucks pick up the loads and take them to stretch wrapping machines to be secured before they head to shipping.

Before recently introducing the new automated system (Lantech, 800-866-0322), the wrapping process was slow and tedious, and created a bottleneck in operations at the 90,000 square foot facility.

Lift truck drivers would often bring a load to the wrappers only to find a completed load already on the unit waiting to be removed. The driver would have to drop the load, get off of the lift truck to cut the stretch wrap on the finished load, then get back onto the truck to remove it from the turntable. The wrapped load would then have to be either taken to shipping or dropped nearby before the next load could be placed on the wrapping machine. The driver would then have to again get off of the truck to start the stretch wrap and climb aboard once more to remove it once wrapped. Some operators would be getting on and off their trucks 200 times during a shift. This obviously slowed productivity and created a lot of downtime.

The new stretch wrapper solves this problem by automatically discharging wrapped loads, so there should never be a wrapped load occupying the turntable. The design of the new system also eliminates the need for leaving the lift truck cab, which improves worker ergonomics. Less handling of loads also means less product damage. And it saves floor space that had previously been required for staging.

Now a worker drives the palletized load to the wrapper and places it directly onto the turntable before pulling a lanyard to start wrapping. The unit automatically attaches and feeds the wrap, eliminating the need for the driver to get off the truck to perform this task manually. It also cuts the stretch film once the load is securely wrapped. Upon completion, an indexing arm sweeps the load off of the turntable onto a roller conveyor where it is accumulated until picked up and taken to shipping. The conveyor can stage up to six loads of wrapped pallets.

Anywhere from 50-100 pallets each day pass through the wrap stations, depending on the product being made during the manufacturing cycle. Needless to say, this efficient system has saved time and labor, but has also improved the process flow.

'Without the waiting time we now have our flow moving much better,' says David Johnson, maintenance lead at Leitchfield Plastics. 'The wrapping system also keeps that line area much cleaner. We really like the unit and it has been great for what we designed it for.'

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