The Austrian company Automotive Components Reiter GmbH (ACR) from Laakirchen was looking for a very flexible, semi-automatic packaging solution to pack OEM supplier parts more efficiently. The company finally ordered an Autobag AB 180 packaging system with a PI 412 thermal transfer printer and a PS 125 table-top packaging machine.
10. July 2018
A feeding system built by ACR was easily connected to the APS packaging system via interfaces.
The Austrian company Automotive Components Reiter GmbH (ACR) from Laakirchen was looking for a very flexible, semi-automatic packaging solution to pack OEM supplier parts more efficiently. The company finally ordered an Autobag AB 180 packaging system with a PI 412 thermal transfer printer and a PS 125 table-top packaging machine.
Today, the average car consists of around 12,000 individual parts. Vehicle manufacturers place high demands on suppliers, from the development of products to their dispatch. For over 20 years, ACR GmbH has been Reliable system supplier for the automotive industry and related sectors. The owner-managed company develops, produces and assembles components for well-known OEMs. Many car drivers would recognise the sun protection, headlight or wind deflector elements of their vehicle here, for example.
Remove manual packaging
The accessories produced by ACR were packed manually by the company's own employees. With the additional takeover of the order from a large OEM, the company was also looking for a more efficient solution in the packaging area. „Of course, cost-effectiveness and cost efficiency also play an important role for us. Instead of employing more staff in the packaging department, we looked for a semi-automated solution,“ explains Wolfgang Reiter, Head of Project Management at ACR GmbH, Laakirchen in Upper Austria.
However, the new system needed to be very flexible in order to be able to pack a wide variety of products with very differentiated order quantities. „We pack orders with 100 pieces just as easily as those with 20,000 pieces. These are often sets with up to 15 part numbers. The parts lists are also very different here,“ explains Wolfgang Reiter. The Upper Austrians finally found what they were looking for at a major trade fair at Automated Packaging Systems (APS). The company is a leading manufacturer of packaging systems for small parts and developer of chain bags on a roll.
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Wolfgang Reiter (Image: ACR)
„With the APS packaging system we have been able to achieve a considerable productivity advantage and have a stronger presence on the market. We are very satisfied with this packaging solution and will decide in favour of this system again if demand increases further. However, we made a conscious decision in favour of this company because its systems are very flexible in use and enable very short changeover times from one pouch format to another. The set-up times for these machines are unbeatable,“ explains Wolfgang Reiter.
Flexible system found
The mobile packaging system AB 180 with Thermal transfer printer PI 412 packs up to 80 bags per minute. The automatically fed bags are Autobag bag pre-opened, filled and sealed by means of air flow. A touchscreen integrated into the packaging system is not only used to control the printing and packaging system, but all functions for help, diagnostics, data processing and machine monitoring can also be easily operated and coordinated from here. The operator can change the pouch format in less than two minutes. Finally, a Integrated diagnostic tool and the Replace-n-Repair module for high system availability.
The semi-automatic Autobag AB 180 packaging system prints the packaging bags with individual customer data and packs up to 80 bags per minute.
With the packaging ordered for smaller product volumes Tabletop packaging machine PS 125 can pack up to 25 bags per minute in continuous mode. The 37 kg machine only requires a footprint of 560 mm x 480 mm. The PS 125 can be used to manually fill and automatically seal bags with a width of 50 mm to 265 mm and a length of 100 mm to 450 mm. ACR currently processes around 300,000 Autobag chain bags per year. Flexibility is also required when it comes to bag sizes.
„Sometimes we pack 200 sets in a medium pouch format, then 150 sets in a large format and then another 500 product sets in a small pouch. APS reacts very quickly when we need bags,“ emphasises Project Manager Rider.
The APS machines are operated via touchscreen. Operating parameters, diagnostics and help programmes can be called up easily and intuitively.
System integration via interface
The specialists at ACR developed their own system for feeding the products to the APS AB 180 packaging machine. This was easily connected to the AB 180 via PLC. All APS packaging machines, just like the thermal transfer printers, are equipped with separate USB ports as well as via parallel and serial interfaces. This enables the external connection of PCs, notebooks or the company's own IT systems for data transfer. The machines can also be integrated into existing production processes. ACR integrated the thermal transfer printer of the Autobag AB180 packaging system into its own intranet. It is supplied with the corresponding data for texts, graphics and barcodes for printing the bags from the work preparation department. A wide variety of label formats can be realised according to specific customer requirements.
ACR is currently considering the use of another Autobag AB-180 packaging system [infotext icon].
About APS
Automated Packaging Systems (APS) was founded in the USA in 1962 and today employs over 1,000 people worldwide. The company has developed into the global market leader for small parts packaging technology. The branch for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Eastern European countries is located in Wolfenbüttel. APS offers machines, customised bags and service from a single source[/infotext].
