Mondi Group currently employs around 25,000 people at over 100 sites, across 30 countries. It´s corrugated packaging division operates 16 plants in central and eastern Europe, three are located in Germany. The three sites include Mondi Wellpappe Ansbach GmbH, Mondi Bad Rappenau GmbH and Mondi Eschenbach GmbH, producing a wide range of corrugated industrial and point of sale solutions, including displays. From high quality, seven colour flexo post-print to litho-laminated boxes, from triple wall heavy duty containers to intricate microflute boxes, the three sites between them can produce any variety of corrugated solution, thanks to a diverse range of corrugating and converting equipment as well as vertical material integration within Mondi Group. Corrugated packaging is supplied to a diverse range of customers throughout Germany, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands.
“The emphasis for us is to ensure not only one of the highest quality and OTIF standards in the industry, but also to operate at the highest levels in terms of safety within the sector,” says Burkhard Vogel, Managing Director, Mondi Bad Rappenau. “We also pride ourselves with the innovation we offer to customers. With fully equipped design facilities and laboratory services at each of our sites in Germany, we offer leading edge design solutions for the entire range in our portfolio , something that our customers have come to expect. Where our design team stands apart from others is their ability to create designs that ensure a smooth flow during erecting and filling. Their in-depth knowledge of what each machine can do and any sort of limitation means they are creating designs that not only look great, but also offer the ultimate in product protection and presentation.”
Using the same design software across each of the sites and with a centralised database of structural designs allows Mondi’s product development and sales teams to work closely together when pitching for new projects. “The access to this large design database within the Mondi Group´s corrugated business and thanks to regular collaboration meetings within the design teams at an international level, the sharing of concepts and designs makes for truly innovative solutions. We have also seen a rapid growth in demand for two-piece shelf ready packaging, especially for supermarkets – and having the right speciality gluer is critical if we are to serve these sectors efficiently.”
L to R: Burkhard Vogel of Mondi and Ulrich Wolz of Bahmüller.
Strong relationships
The relationship between Bahmüller and Mondi goes back many years. “Throughout Mondi Group`s corrugated business, we are running several Bahmüller folder gluers,” continues Vogel. “We are running Turbox in Poland and in our Central Europe region, some of which include the PowerPacker unit for maximum output efficiency. We see Bahmüller as a valuable partner for our business – they certainly listen to our needs and understand our requirements very well.”
He continues, “Their process engineers have spent a lot of time with our team so they can really get a full understanding of our needs. Bahmüller have also hosted several workshops for us at their Pluderhausen facility, where they have been able to show us their developments prior to final specifications for our factories. It has been a truly two-way learning experience and the results have been great.”
Increasing capacity
Speciality gluing at Bad Rappenau has always been a priority and as demand grew for SRP and two-piece boxes, Mondi took the decision to invest in a Turbox with the specific aim of increasing output. “There were several key factors for us when we specified the machine,” says Vogel. “We wanted a machine that would allow us to add to our range of shelf ready packaging solutions, but we needed to be sure that industry leading quality levels could be achieved, because Mondi Group operates to the highest standards in box production, with zero defect being a core value. We felt that the Turbox caters best to our needs and with Bahmüller as a reliable and innovative partner, it was our decision to go for the development partnership.”
Baumer hhs Xmelt glue system was chosen.
The latest Turbox for Mondi Group was installed at its Bad Rappenau site, about 1 hour north of Stuttgart. Specified for running small products and shelf ready packaging, the BTX 1450/1700 is equipped with the well-known two-bay Topmatcher. “We have had very positive feedback from Burkhard Vogel and his production crews at Mondi Bad Rappenau,” says Ulrich Wolz, Managing Director of Bahmüller. “Mondi confirms that the machine can easily be run at 8,000+ feeds per minute, depending on the product mix. They also like the added benefit of the Topmatcher having been designed in such a way that it can run as a standard feeder too.”
Wolz continues, “Digitalisation is an issue – so the machines comes with the most recent HMI and DFS – Diagonal Fold Supervision – a system designed by Bahmüller, that helps to control proper folding on the run. Equipped with ‘Unique Eject’ means that misfolded products and further detected errors can be ejected without stopping production.”
Wolz concludes, “Bad Rappenau has over 25 years of gluing experience in SRP packaging. Given their complex portfolio and product types, paired with a high level of operational excellence, we can be sure that the plant delivers a great benchmark as to the challenges our machinery can cope with, without reaching its limits and while delivering top performance. We are very proud to be accepted by Mondi Group as a cherished partner. We would like to extend our thanks not only to Burkhard Vogel and the team at Bad Rappenau, but the entire technical team at Mondi Group who have been instrumental in the smooth roll-out of the Bahmüller Turbox solutions within the Group.”
