Art of Wrapping Rolls, 1998 Finishing and Converting Conference Proceedings

Papermakers, as well as their customers, appreciate the impression left by attractively wrapped and labeled rolls that have reached the press room warehouse in good shape. That final impression created by first-rate packaging is indicative of an overall efficient operation throughout the papermill. In addition to mere appearance, however, gentle roll handling and quality wrapping ensures that the quality of the paper itself is preserved for excellent runnability in the converting and printing processes.

This paper will discuss a new wrapping method using narrower wrapper width and an overlapping principle. Using a “cassette” wrapper feed of one to three wrapper stock rolls and the heat sealing method, rolls are efficiently wrapped in a weather-tight package. One of the benefits of this process is space savings. The normal space taken by the backstand is unnecessary, which provides much more freedom in designing the wrapping layout. No house crane is needed because of advances in the wrapper roll changeout process.

With a hybrid overlapping wrapper in production, tests have proven the concept is viable. The first full production wrapper starts up in the summer of 1998. The pilot wrapping station in the Research and Development center is currently being used by North American customers to test their rolls and wrapping material with this new process.

Analysis of roll flow for each target application will determine the most frequently occurring roll widths--the “M-curve”. With this information, the most effective wrapper stock widths can be chosen for maximum throughput that corresponds well with the incoming width distribution. To the mill, this means maximum capacity with minimal equipment and wrapper stock inventory.