Detergent tabs 'heat' up packaging

In Britain, premeasured tablets are the fastest-growing way to use laundry detergents, and Robert McBride, plc, Cumbria, England, is packing them 70% faster with an economical film from UCB Films (Smyrna, GA).

Pw 16687 Propafilm

Propafilm FFA employs a unique low-seal-temperature heat-seal coating that allows McBride to wrap two tablets in film at speeds of up to 93 meters/min (more than 280’/min). The average is 89 m/min.

Previously, McBride could package the fragile tablets in polypropylene only at speeds in the 50 meter/min range. When the plant installed a new high-speed flow wrapper from SIG Pack (Raleigh, NC), the company thought it would have to shift to a film with a pattern-applied cold-seal coating. “Cold seal makes the film appear to be ‘frosty,’” says David Bartlett, packaging coordinator at McBride, “and we want the package to be totally clear.” Plus, he says, shelf life can be an issue with cold-seal lacquer.

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