St. Mary's Roll Wrapping Solution, 1999 Papermakers Conference Proceedings

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Back in the 1960s, the average rotary press used rolls that were slightly over one meter wide. Today there is a call for jumbo sized rolls that are nearly three times wider. In North America there will be three wide presses (3.43 m, 135 in.) in operation within the next two years. Naturally, the existing presses will be in operation, as well, for a long time. All handling, packaging and transportation related equipment such as internal roll handling, wrapping machines and goods vehicles, trucks and ships must deal with these larger dimensions.

One mill that has solved this challenge is St. Mary’s Paper Ltd., Ontario, Canada. This paper will discuss a solution using narrower wrapper widths and an overlapping principle for roll wrapping, called TopPack TM. The most characteristic feature of this multistation low profile wrapping machine is how the wrapper is applied. In St. Mary’s case, only two wrapper cassettes are used. These two wrapper widths are selected according to an analysis of production width statistics. Therefore, the selection of wrapper widths covers the most frequently produced roll widths and, by multiple application, can also be used for the widest “jumbo” sized rolls. To the mill, this solution means maximum capacity with minimal equipment and wrapper stock inventory. At the time this paper was submitted, the wrapping machine was in the installation phase. Pilot trial experience and hybrid production wrapper experience are included as supporting data. An update of the mill’s startup experience and collected production data will be presented at the time of the conference.