Innovative Packaging Technology Increases Plant Productivity, 2001 Hot Melt Symposium Proceedings

Timothy J. Petracca, Thomas Engel, Burleigh M. Hutchins, Jay Feitel--Adhesive Manufacturers are demanding more from their raw material suppliers; steady or decreasing prices for their raw material purchases; raw material deliveries sized to their specific recipes; more ergonomic, worker-friendly and environmentally-friendly approaches; and packaging solutions requiring minimal new capital installations and no plant layout changes. Current packaging solutions available to raw material suppliers including paper bags, drums, Gaylord-type box containers, form-filled plastic bags; and traditional bottom discharge semi-bulk bags fall short of these challenges. Full bulk handling solutions via rail cars or hopper trucks can provide a good answer for both customer and supplier, but require a huge capital investment and a large fixed plant infrastructure change by both parties. Now there is a total semi-bulk material handling solution available between the full bulk approach and the traditional paper bag packaging approach that meets the end-user customer’s needs and improves and simplifies the filling process for raw material suppliers.