Latin American film manufacturer opens up a new sales market with white voided film
In collaboration with one of the largest film producers in Latin America, Brückner Servtec has successfully completed the total "revamping" of a 3-layer BOPP line. The line now produces high-quality white voided film for the manufacture of wrap-around labels.
Flagship project for performance increase and market specialization
The aim of this project was to produce white voided film in order to open up new sales markets, hence the current film stretching line from 1989 was completely overhauled for specialization and performance optimization. For Brückner Servtec, this has been one of the largest upgrade projects worldwide.
Comprehensive line optimization within six months
The modernization started at the beginning of January 2022 and included the installation of two new co-extruders including a new die, raw material section and dosing for the production of 5-layer film as well as upgrades to the casting unit (CAS) and the machine direction orientation (MDO) to increase the output. New direct drives now reduce the energy consumption, increase the film quality thanks to an improved control accuracy, and reduce the maintenance costs. The modern FOK 4.4.6 transport system has been installed in the transversal direction orientation (TDO) to achieve maximum speeds. In addition, the pull-roll has been redesigned, a new winder has been installed and the electrical system, including the control system, has completely been renewed in order to raise the system to the level of a modern film stretching line. The smooth recommissioning took place on June 24, 2022.
In total, up to 20 Brückner employees were involved in the project. They spent 6,000 working hours on the design and worked 8,000 hours at the construction site. This clearly underlines the complexity of this major contract.
Special challenges require special flexibility
In addition to the usual challenges a project of this size entails, special circumstances added further complications. After a long bidding phase, characterized by numerous revisions to the scope of delivery, the project scope was finalized in 2020, and the implementation began.
To make matters even more difficult, the start of the project coincided with the middle of the first Covid wave, which resulted in a lockdown at the line's location and our client's limited access to their own plant. The restricted travel possibilities forced people to hold meetings virtually instead of in person, a novelty that had to be introduced for a project of these dimensions in the first place. Reduced ship traffic also made it difficult to deliver the components.
In spite of adversity: all the work could be completed successfully and on time. A decisive factor for this success was our strong presence in the region which, in close collaboration with our colleagues from the local service platform Brückner Colombia, enabled us above all to compensate staff shortages caused by the pandemic. During this extraordinary time, both the employees on site and those at the headquarters in Siegsdorf showed remarkable flexibility and a high level of commitment through their joint efforts.
Erik Herold (Project Manager, Brückner Servtec) describes this as follows: "Despite the bumpy start, we grew into a good team with the customer as time went on, and were therefore able to jointly keep the project on track and bring it to a successful conclusion."
"We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our freelancer William Perez whose experience and friendly manner made sure there was a great atmosphere on site," adds Gerald Huber (Project Manager, Brückner Servtec).
The customer was highly satisfied with the upgrade results: "The relationship of trust with the site team was decisive for the success of this major project and we would like to thank everyone involved for the successful line overhaul. Above all, the quality of the white voided film is absolutely first class, and we are proud to be able to present this modernized BOPP plant to our customers and guests as an example of best practice."
Following the completion of this major two-year project, the customer is optimistic about the future. The convincing performance of the overhauled BOPP system and the flexibility during the project implementation make the company rely on its long-standing cooperation with Brückner Servtec for the next upgrade project.
