Portucel Soporcel Group and MSK – great names for a great project

Press Release, 2009-06-04

For one of the biggest uncoated wood free paper factories of the past years, Portucel Soporcel Group settled for two complete shrink packaging lines designed and manufactured by MSK, one of the internationally leading producers of film packaging machines.

In the paper industry, this Portucel Soporcel Group project named ATF (About the Future) had been under consideration for several years already. Then in 2007, the Portuguese paper manufacturer finally announced their official plans of producing 500.000 tons of uncoated woodfree paper at the new paper plant in Setúbal starting in 2009.

First negotiations between ATFand MSK took place in 2007. Together with Carlos Lopes (converting project manager ATF), the project team of French and German MSK subsidiaries visited different reference  assets. There, the high performance and reliability of the MSK machines, aswell as the film roll availability and the enormous power savings of the pallet shrink frame compared to pallet shrink ovens, convinced the Portuguese project manager. By the end of February of 2008, MSK finally received an order for 2 complete shrink packaging lines for the new plant. After successful completion of the Factory Acceptance Test in the beginning of 2009, the machines have been delivered this March.

Two film wrap machines of the type MSK Flowtech process different product dimensions with a capacity of up to 120 pallets per hour. By adjusting the film rolls horizontally, the devices are able to increase the rolls’ exchange ranges by a multiple and thus simplify the operation. In combination with MSK’s powerful pallet shrink frame technique, energy and film consumption are reduced to a minimum.

MSK Synchrotech pallet shrink frames use a specially designed MSK hot-air system and are each equipped with two gas supply regulators with which the longitudinal and transverse sides can be controlled independently without having to mechanically adjust the heating elements. The pallet shrink frame perfectly adapts to the different formats in a fully automatic way. Compared to pallet shrink ovens, this leads to significant energy savings with high safety standard. “In the paper, print and cardboard industry, the pallet shrink frame technology replaces the shrink ovens and  presents the future of film shrink packaging. This is why major international paper manufacturers like Portucel Soporcel Group have deliberately decided to go for MSK, the pioneer of shrink frame technique”, explains Rolf Vehreschild, key account manager at MSK. Apart from the shrink packaging lines, MSK furthermore delivered the conveyor technique and additional modules, such as cover board feeders and robot-labelling, as well as carry-off logistics.

The ATF project is another important reference for MSK in the international paper industry and it shows once again that MSK exactly meets the high demands for energy cost savings, packaging quality, flexibility and packaging performance with their latest state-of-the-art solutions.In the past, numerous reknown paper manufacturers have already been convinced by MSK’s high technical standards and have opted for replacement of their shrink oven techniques with MSK’s pallet shrink frames. Some of these paper producers are Amcor (Australia), APP (Asia), Ario Wiggings (Europe), Chemning Paper (Asia), Domtar (USA), International Paper (Europe and Asia), Mondi(Europe and Africa), Newpage (USA), Norlandpapier (Europe),Portucel (Europe), Sappi (Europe and USA), Stora Enso (Europe), Tullis Russel (Europe) and UPM (Europe and Asia).

MSK Covertech-Group belongs to the first addresses in the packaging machines industry all over the world. Apart from half and fully automatic shrink and stretch packaging systems for pallet loading units, the producer also offers pallet conveyor techniques and on-plant handling systems – all of these being their own one-stop products. MSK sets great store by high availability and safety of their machines and is well-known for their customized innovations.