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Buffer Systems and Line Stoppages
Christoph Recher, Sales Manager, and Thomas Czioska, Head of Sales & Marketing, of LoeschPack explain how a packaging line handles downstream stoppages. LoeschPack machines come to a controlled stop and restart by themselves, while buffers integrated in the feeding system store products until the line runs again. Czioska says simulations typically point to three minutes up to five, six minutes of buffer; Recher says buffers mainly reduce scrap.
Key takeaways
- Christoph Recher says LoeschPack machines come to a controlled stop when the downstream machine is not ready and start up by themselves once the error is repaired.
- Thomas Czioska says that, based on simulations, a typical buffer size is something between three minutes up to five, six minutes.
- Christoph Recher explains that gondola buffers are first-in-first-out, which many customers emphasize, and that the most important benefit of a buffer is reducing scrap.
Common questions
- What happens to a flow wrapper when the downstream machine stops?
- According to Christoph Recher of LoeschPack, their machines stop themselves when they get the signal that the downstream machine is not ready, coming to a controlled stop. Once the error has been repaired, the machines start up by themselves, so operators do not have to touch anything.
- How big should a packaging line buffer be?
- Thomas Czioska of LoeschPack says it always depends, but based on what LoeschPack sees in its simulations, a typical buffer size is something between three minutes up to five, six minutes. Christoph Recher adds that the buffer stores products until the line is running again, since upstream production does not stop.
- What is the difference between a gondola buffer and a belt buffer?
- Christoph Recher of LoeschPack explains that gondola buffers are rather high, while belt buffers are rather long. A gondola buffer is first-in-first-out, meaning products that go in first also come out first, which many customers emphasize. He also describes first-in-last-out buffers, where the first products in are emptied at the very end.
Transcript
Tom Rougeux, President, Piepenbrock Packaging
What happens on a packaging line when a downstream piece of equipment needs maintenance or has a hiccup of some sort? What generally should be done? What should the packaging engineer do about a downstream piece of equipment that is inoperable for a few minutes?
Christoph Recher, Sales Manager, LoeschPack
Usually it has to do nothing with our machines, because they stop themselves when they get the signal that the downstream machine is not ready. And they come to a controlled stop. When the error has been repaired, the machines start up by themselves, so it doesn't have to touch anything.
Tom Rougeux
So, what happens further upstream when the product isn't being packaged? The oven doesn't just stop, the production line doesn't stop, does it?
Christoph Recher
No, of course not. Typically that's what we provide buffers for, that the products can be stored for a certain amount of time until the line is running again.
Tom Rougeux
Can you walk us through what a buffer's capability typically is?
Thomas Czioska, Head of Sales & Marketing, LoeschPack
It always depends, of course. What we see in the simulations, how big a buffer should be, I would say something between three minutes up to five, six minutes, something like that. It's a typical number.
Tom Rougeux
Can you walk us through how a buffer works?
Christoph Recher
Of course, the buffer is integrated in the feeding system. We provide different kinds of buffers, like gondola buffers, which are rather high, or belt buffers, which are rather long. The buffer itself is very simple.
The products are fed in at the beginning and they're fed out in the end. There are different kinds of buffers, like first-in-last-out buffer, that the products that go in first will be emptied at the very end. On the other side, you have the first-in-first-out buffers.
That's, for example, a gondola buffer. That means products that are going in first are also coming out first. A lot of customers emphasize that principle, because they don't want the products to be out of production and into the packaging for a certain amount of time.
The most important benefit of a buffer, of course, is to reduce scrap as much as possible, that you don't have too much waste in your production.
Tom Rougeux
Brief pauses on various parts of the line. A buffer can accumulate the product for a while and then evenly distribute that product downstream. Is that fair?
Thomas Czioska
Yes, that's fine.
