Rocersa renews its packaging line to a more sustainable technology

In a context of energy crisis, with skyrocketing gas and electricity prices, many ceramic companies have decided to make the move towards more efficient technologies. This has been the case of Rocersa Group, a Ceramic company committed to the environment and innovation, which has decided to take the leap and renew its old heat-shrink packaging system for the efficient Innova Group's Stretch Hood system.

 

Rocersa has recently unveiled its new packaging line at its main factory in Alcora, where it centralizes the production of flooring and porcelain tiles. Rocersa is an emblematic group in the tile sector, with more than 40 years of experience, recognized for its innovative 20 mm porcelain tiles and outdoor flooring.

 

The shift to a more sustainable production

 

Rocersa asked us to renovate its shrink packaging line to more sustainable and energy-efficient technologies. Even before the energy and raw materials crisis, Rocersa had an innovation and sustainability plan in place which led it to take measures and update technology in its factories. Not surprisingly, they have recently been awarded ISO quality and environmental certifications. 

 

At the time they had a packaging line with horizontal strapping system and heat shrink hood system that protected their loads at the cost of a large amount of film and energy consumption. Innova Group proposed to replace it with the Stretch Hood protection (which reduces energy and plastic consumption by 50%).

 

Due to the type of Rocersa's product (heavy and thick stoneware), they also required extra protection for their product. For this reason, Innova proposed the use of Horizontal Strapping and a Ring Wrapping system in the packaging line, a combination which provides a more respectful hold for their product.

 

The line installed at Rocersa combines protection and support

 

The packaging project was completed just a few weeks ago, when the packaging line went into full production. SThis newly installed line has consisted of:

 

Horizontal Strapping System FH Pro with Edge Protection Applicator: The pallet strapping system is used to compact the mosaic of ceramic boxes and secure the load in a single block. The strapping machine installed at Rocersa is equipped with a complementary edge protection applicator to protect the corners of the ceramic boxes from the application of the strap. In this way, the highest possible compaction is achieved without damaging the product.

Rocersa's strapping system also features an in-house developed 4.0 Strapping head with servo motor technology and torque control for increased strapping precision and hold.

 

Ring Wrapping System AWR Pro: Innova's automatic ring wrapper provides additional stability to the pallet by wrapping from the base of the pallet to the top of the load. It includes a reinforcement roping device that is applied to provide greater support, acting as a strap. In addition, thanks to the type of wrapping performed by the Stretch Wrapper, it provides an enveloping and respectful hold for Rocersa boxes.

 

Both the automatic stretch wrapper and the Innova strapping machine have torque control technology that optimizes the use of consumables (either stretch film or strapping) to minimize its use and make a more efficient packaging.

 

Stretch Hood System SH1 Pro 2 : The last station of the packaging line is the Stretch Hood system that provides the ultimate protection against external agents. Unlike the shrink hood system, Stretch Hood does not need to apply heat to shrink the film on the load, eliminating an extra cost for the company, both in terms of energy and maintenance of the shrink oven. In addition, the Stretch Hood uses less film and lower film thickness than shrink hooding, allowing for savings in consumables as well.

Rocersa's Stretch Hood  has two film reels to adapt to the different pallet formats of the ceramic group.

 

Conveying line: The connection of all these systems is done through a conveyor line that includes an infeed for forklifts and an infeed with pallet centering device for AGV's. The outfeed of the line is done through a 180º conveyor system with Innova's existing roller and turntable conveying systems.

 

Future plans: Second stage dedicated to Large Format

 

The packaging project with Innova also includes a second stage with a second line dedicated to large format production. In this way, all of Rocersa's production will be centralized in two packaging stations that will offer the best protection and stability for all types of formats and pallets with highly efficient technologies.

 

For its part, Rocersa has shown its satisfaction and confidence in the project with Innova, which continues with the development of this second phase.

 

For Innova, the Rocersa Group is already more than a customer, since it is a reference company with which we have been working since the foundation of Innova Maquinaria.