The Challenge – Protecting Pulp Rolls
The design of the package to protect pulp rolls at a reasonable cost is one of the most challenging issues that a paper mill can tackle. The problem did not have a consistent root cause across paper mills. Whether issues stemmed from the transport or storage, delivering product without a significant loss of pulp for
the end user was impacting the paper mills ability to deliver reliable quantities of pulp.
Solution
Historically multiple layers of a thin film were used to wrap rolls of pulp with an extra 5 to 6 layers used to try to protect the ends of the roll. Although
the wrap appeared to be thick enough, it did not adequately protect against abrasion and the ends of a packaged roll suffered damage during transport. The team
at Automatic Handling set out to address the challenge.
Although numerous solutions were examined, one surfaced as the solution to protect roll ends and in turn raw materials after production at paper mills. AHI’s
patented Edgegard, delivers a 20-mil thick (thickness based on application) Polyethylene (PE) film material applied during the wrapping process. Due to the extreme
thickness of the material it quickly provided many benefits including holding up to a roll being pushed in a rail car or truck.
The Benefits
In addition to being fully recyclable, the application of an Edgegard protective layer allows the wrapping to hold up to rolls being pushed across surfaces
during transport. Paper mills who have adopted Edgegard have experienced better package integrity, more consistent delivery of pulp rolls to their customers
and lower costs given roll packaging requires less material to maintain their reliability.
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