Douglas secondary packaging machines are capable of performing many different types of functions. Each machine has unique features to accommodate customer products and applications. Our case packers feed products into set up cases, then fold, glue and close the case. Shrink packers load products into trays, wrap the trays with film and expose the film to heat for shrinking. There are many different ways these machines operate to provide the desired end product, and each piece of equipment is customized to fit your needs. However, purchasing a large piece of industrial equipment involves a lot of commitment—and no shortage of training.

How Would Training Benefit My Plant?

Some people may feel that training is not a good use of time and money. They may ask themselves, “Are my employees actually going to get anything out of this?” or, “Why should I shut down production on my machine when I just got it?” At Douglas, we understand your concerns. We hope the following information helps alleviate your worries and provides answers about how training your employees upfront can save time and money.

There are many benefits to training your machine operators. Studies have shown that well-trained employees are more likely to continue working for a company. Work longevity can lead to more experience, less downtime and fewer expenses. Employees that are well-trained can also share their knowledge and experience with employees that are hired after the initial operator training.

Research also indicates that operator error accounts for half of all unscheduled production downtime. Lost production time can be reduced by teaching operators and maintenance personnel how to spot issues so they can be fixed properly before major problems arise. Well-trained employees are also more likely to recognize when components need maintenance, or if a few adjustments can help the equipment run better. Recognizing these elements can result in reduced downtime, machine wear-and-tear and product loss.

An effective training program reduces unscheduled production downtime, increases employee retention and teaches employees about important safety information so they have the knowledge to work safely in their environment and around the equipment. Safe practices can also help the plant comply with OSHA regulations and prevent minor and major accidents, keeping your products, equipment and—most importantly—your employees safe.

What Types of Training Programs Does Douglas Machine Offer?

Douglas provides several types of training. Our service technicians provide an informal hands-on training during every machine install. This informal training gives your operators basic knowledge on how to get the machine started and running. Initial changeover settings, quick changeover and troubleshooting guides are also provided with each machine. Douglas offers many job aid options that can be created for your machine as well.

Formal Operator and Maintenance Training can be purchased to provide employees with additional training information. The Formal Operator and Maintenance Training can be customized for your plant’s specific needs and time constraints. The training program typically includes information on safety, controls, machine startup, machine shutdown, cleanout, changeover, theory of operation, machine components, maintenance, cleaning, lubrication, servo homing and troubleshooting. Certified trainers arrive at your plant and provide personal copies of the training manual for each employee to keep. The trainers go through the manual, as well as a presentation with videos of the machine in operation. Throughout the training, the trainers bring the employees out to the machine for advanced hands-on training. During this time, the trainers will answer any questions and set up troubleshooting scenarios for employees to work through.

The Advanced Electrical Training goes into the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and Human Machine Interface (HMI) programming details for electrical technicians. The Advanced Electrical Training program will focus on PLC and HMI program organization, tag structure, PLC inputs and outputs, program faults and messages, HMI to PLC interfacing, machine and servo routines, servo cams and electrical troubleshooting. A Douglas Machine Electrical Technician provides the Advanced Electrical Training.

When Is the Best Time to Train Employees?

While basic hands-on training is provided during installation for all Douglas equipment, the formal training programs are recommended to take place after employees have had a chance to get some basic familiarity with their machine and think through more informed questions. We recommend that the machine is up and running for four to six weeks before the formal training session takes place.

The employee-owners at Douglas understand that sometimes training may need to be purchased further down the road due to timing, production, etc. That’s why we videotape and photograph every machine, so if your plant decides to purchase training five years or more after install, we can still create a customized training program for your machine.

Find out More About Douglas Machine Training Programs

Visit us online, email us at sales@douglas-machine.com or call us at 320.763.6587 to learn more about the training Douglas Machine provides and how it can benefit your company.

Manufacturing safety is essential to preventing or reducing the risk of workplace injuries. All manufacturers want their plants to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible, but the safety of their employees is of the utmost priority. It’s also important to note that workplace safety cannot exist on best practices and policies alone. Everyone needs to be aware of and involved in executing safe practices to create a safe working environment. How well employees understand and follow defined safety standards can make all the difference.

The foundation of any successful workplace safety effort is encouraging employees to identify unsafe behaviors and opportunities for improvement—while also making well-informed safety decisions during daily routine tasks. At Douglas, we’re passionate about making the world of secondary packaging as efficient and safe as possible. So today, we’ll be offering a few helpful tips to ensure you have a safe experience when working with our secondary packaging machines.

1. Wear Proper Safety Equipment

In situations where hazards cannot be completely eliminated, Douglas will provide the appropriate personal protection equipment (PPE) to employees. Employees are fully trained on the hazards associated with their work and the proper types of PPE required, along with proper machine maintenance, care and use. In addition to a subsidy for footwear, all other PPE is provided at no cost to the employee. Employee-owned PPE can also be used—as long as it is approved and maintained according to Douglas standards.

Recently added, to increase our level of machine safety, are bump caps. Bump caps (or hard hats) are required when leveling machines and working inside the machine while the head is below components (including the tool bar, side plate, cross member, magazine and conveyor). We also require use of bump caps when using a hoist or other lifting devices to lift materials overhead and when the work area is under overhead lift work.

2. Follow Lockout/Tagout Procedures

Proper lockout/tagout (LOTO) practices and procedures protect workers from the release of hazardous energy. Lockout/tagout identifies specific actions and procedures for controlling hazardous energy during the servicing and maintenance of our secondary packaging machines.

Douglas Machine’s strategy is to remove the hazard and ensure it cannot be restored without the knowledge of the person(s) who initially removed the hazard. Stored energy such as capacitors, springs, pressurized glue systems, pressurized air and machine sections with stored energy utilizing gravity will be relieved of their energy. Afterward, a mechanism will be engaged to prevent re-accumulation of energy. The importance of machine safety is addressed throughout the LOTO process.

3. Use Approved Tools

When working on a Douglas machine, employees must only use Douglas-approved tools. Personal knives and multi-purpose tools are not allowed to be used, as they can increase the risk of injury for employees. Safety is very important to Douglas as a company, and the safety of employees ranks at the top of our list.

4. Attend Machine Training

Training plays an important role in on-the-job safety. The Douglas Safety Management System on Douglas Connect (our intranet site) provides a single location for access to training, such as general safety, AWAIR, Right to Know and multi-topic training videos. Additional safety programs can be found on this site to help ensure employees are performing their daily tasks effectively while protecting themselves and their co-workers.

How Douglas Machine Prioritizes Safety & Support

Douglas takes ownership of designing, planning and arranging work processes within the company to eliminate or minimize all safety hazards. A Safety Manager, Safety Technician and Corporate Safety Committee work together to increase safety awareness and work with all employees so they can contribute to providing a safe and healthy work environment. Ultimately, the responsibility of providing a safe work environment belongs to each and every employee.

One of the safety processes Douglas has implemented to increase workplace safety is Job Hazard Analysis (JHA), a technique that focuses on job tasks as a way to identify hazards before they occur. Another process is safety inspections and audits. These inspections and audits are performed on a regular basis to make sure our equipment is safe to operate at all times.

Near Miss reports are filed when an employee sees an unplanned event that did not result in injury or damage but had the potential to do so. Corrective action is then taken to remove the potential risk. Douglas has also designed a program called DIPs (Douglas Improvement Projects), where employees submit ideas to improve productivity, quality, safety and other practices. A strong focus on safety-related DIPs has drawn positive attention toward employees looking for ways to perform their daily tasks in a safer manner.

Maximize Workplace Safety With Douglas Machine

Safety awareness and training are an essential part of workplace safety. Douglas’ commitment to safety carries through to the commitment of providing a safe, customer-driven experience. Through warranty programs, maintenance programs, training & documentation and remote technical support, you can rest assured that Douglas is always by your side—so you can experience safe workplace operation for the full lifespan of your machine.

If you’re interested in learning more about tactics you can leverage to increase workplace safety, or want more insights into Douglas’ world-class safety procedures, then be sure to contact us today. No matter which safety challenges your organization faces, the Douglas team is here to help.

 

Shrink Wrap Machines for Food, Beverage, Consumer Goods Suppliers, Pharmaceutical and Banks & Government Agencies

What Does a Shrink Wrap Machine Do?

A shrink wrap machine does exactly what its name suggests: it wraps film around a product, then shrinks that film to tightly fit the product using a heat source. The film, a polymer plastic, can be clear or artfully decked out with graphics—whatever best fits the product. Shrink wrap machines range in size from handheld heat guns to industrial-size heat tunnels.

What Industries Benefit from Using Shrink Wrap Machines?

#1 – The Beverage Industry

Walk through any grocery store and you’ll spot neat and eye-catching bundles of shrink-wrapped beverages, ready for easy transport into your cart. The U.S. beverage market alone boasts more than $350 billion in annual sales, assisted by shrink wrap machines. Check out Douglas Machine’s Contour shrink wrappers and packers – built for speed, durability and quality to serve this demanding industry.

#2 – The Food Industry

Like the beverage industry, the food industry makes wide use of shrink wrap machines to package, protect, bundle and market its products. From canned goods and ready-to-eat foods to whole foods and more, shrink wrap machines can play a huge part in a product’s ease of transport and marketability. Douglas Machine’s VS Series shrink wrappers and Contour shrink wrappers and packers are custom-built to provide precise and effective shrink wrap solutions across the food industry.

#3 – Consumer Goods Suppliers

Manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and resellers use shrink wrap machines to protect and package a plethora of products. These solutions are employed to wrap board games, bundles of paper, toys, tools, DVDs, electronics, sports equipment and cleaning supplies … you name it. When used on consumer goods, shrink wrap can deter tampering, keep products neatly bundled, and protect items from environmental damage, ensuring that they reach buyers in good condition.

#4 – The Pharmaceutical Industry

In the pharmaceutical industry, shrink wrap machines play an integral role in sealing caps and providing a way to detect tampering. Pharmaceutical producers use these solutions to maintain safety and sterility standards across their over-the-counter and prescription products.

#5 – Banks & Government Agencies

When banks physically transport money, shrink wrap plays a part in keeping that money safe; the specialty shrink wrap changes colors when stretched. Government agencies employ a similar technique, applying tamper-evident shrink wrap to sensitive items.

Shrink Wrap Machines at Douglas Machine Inc.

Douglas Machine shrink wrap systems provide efficient, innovative shrink wrap solutions for customers with large production needs. Our standalone or fully integrated shrink wrap systems are customized to our customers’ needs and maximize speed while handling a wide range of product sizes and pack patterns. Read on to find out more about our shrink wrap solutions.

Contour™ Shrink Wrappers

Our Contour shrink wrap machines are built to serve applications with upstream product collating and tray packing. These shrink wrappers feature advanced heat tunnel technology, which enables them to maximize shrink wrapping production, reaching speeds up to 100 cycles per minute. The Douglas Contour’s revolutionary patented heat tunnel is designed with the aesthetics of your product in mind. Whether your application calls for single or multiple lane production, unprecedented heat and airflow management ensures minimal graphic distortion, consistent bull’s-eyes and a tighter, more durable wrap for maximum package integrity and appearance. Enhanced tunnel operations significantly reduce noise and exterior heat temperatures, contributing to a quieter, cooler plant environment.

Contour™ Shrink Packers

Douglas Machine’s Contour shrink packer is a complete integrated machine, taking your product through loose collating, tray packing and shrink wrapping. Additional package options make the SPS-Series our most flexible shrink wrap system. With intelligent, adaptable and economical solutions, our shrink wrap systems meet all facets of today’s accelerated production challenges while ensuring your brand is consistently presented with industry-leading package appearance and durability. Contour shrink packers can reach speeds of up to 150 cycles per minute.

VS Series Shrink Wrappers

These shrink wrap machines provide exceptional package quality in a compact shrink wrapper, offering a high level of control and precision. Reaching speeds of up to 40 cycles per minute, our VS Series shrink wrappers are designed to interface with existing tray packers, including Douglas Machine’s Invex® and Axiom®. Using single film roll technology, costly maintenance problems associated with conventional cutting and sealing technologies are eliminated. The optional print-registered film control gives you the ability to enhance your package appearance on the store shelf. Combined with Douglas’ proprietary heat tunnel technology, our VS Series shrink wrappers ensure your brand is always presented with quality and pride.

Douglas Quality Doesn’t End at the Machine

When you purchase a shrink wrap system from Douglas, our commitment goes beyond providing a top-notch, industry-leading machine. We stand by our machines (and our customers) with a comprehensive support system that includes machine frame and parts warranties, 24/7 technical assistance, a thorough documentation package, on-site training opportunities and more.

Find out More About Douglas Machine’s Shrink Wrap Systems

Visit us online, email us at sales@douglas-machine.com, or give us a call at 320-204-5408 to learn more about the shrink wrap systems we manufacture, including details about specifications and the technology used to build each system. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Robotic Palletizers

Advances in technology and consumer demands have increased the importance of optimizing production and packaging line speeds. For most manufacturing enterprises, increasing speed is the ultimate goal. After all, packaging line productivity is the core factor in being a successful packaging solution for other companies. Without a fast and efficient packaging line, companies may see a decrease in product quality and business opportunities. Any company that manufactures a product—especially large, heavy items packaged in boxes or bags, and places those items on a shipping pallet—is a candidate for automated palletizing equipment. It is an efficient and effective method of integration. Wikipedia’s definition of a palletizer is a machine which provides automatic means for stacking cases of goods or products onto a pallet. The key component in a robotic palletizer is … a robot. A robot is guided by computer or electronic programming, allowing it to do tasks on its own.

What Is a Robotic Palletizer?

Robotic palletizers were introduced in the early 1980s and have an End-of-Arm Tool (EoAT) to grab the product from a conveyor and position it onto a pallet. The EoAT is often custom-designed to handle one or more specific products. Robotic palletizing systems are capable of dispensing and conveying pallets, metering cases on the product infeed and utilizing robotics to palletize cases and apply slip sheets where required. Additional components are infeed conveyors that deliver products to the robot, pallet dispensers that automatically deliver a single pallet to the robot from a stack of pallets, and outfeed conveyors that take pallets with full stacks away from the robot. These solutions also employ automatic slip sheet or tier sheet dispensers and safety devices such as fencing and light curtains. At the end of most palletizing systems is an automatic stretch wrapper. Douglas will purchase and integrate most stretch wrappers.

Benefits of Robotic Palletizers

On-time production has never been more desirable, which is why integrated packaging is so critical. While the speed of the package line improves immensely, there are other benefits in choosing integrated packaging. Robotic palletizing offers more features and benefits than other palletizing equipment. For example, they can handle one or more units at a time according to pallet configuration, and form multiple layers on a pallet after picking the products off a conveyor. To give you a better idea of whether one of these products is right for your business, here’s a summary of its features and benefits:

Speed

https://www.douglas-machine.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=2273&action=edit Speed varies greatly depending on the products being handled. For instance, it can palletize 40 bags a minute or up to 1,200 cans a minute.

Maintenance

Fewer mechanical components means significantly less downtime and superior reliability.

Versatility

Various grippers give the robot great versatility, making them some of the most important elements. Its specialized EoAT can be adapted to almost every need. From vacuum and lateral to finger and magnetic grippers, they are designed to handle multiple types of containers at a time, regardless of their shape.

Footprint

The equipment’s dimensions may vary depending on the system’s configuration, but the flexibility it offers allows for installation in tight spaces while still complying with the most up-to-date safety standards.

Reduction in Labor Injuries

When considering the safety that robots offer compared to a person stacking and lifting, the overall savings can be even more significant. Robotic palletizing continues to prove profitable for packaging and packing plants. No matter your reasons for considering automating your palletizing process, a thorough evaluation of your needs will be the key to a well-adapted solution.

Types of Packaging Made Better Through Robotic Palletizing

They’re ideal for high-mix palletizing of cartons, bags, pails, glass bottles, trays and more … including food and beverage, warehouse and distribution, and industrial products. Palletizing is a demanding application and is the last step in the assembly line before the product is loaded onto a shipping truck.

Why Choose a Douglas Palletizing System?

• Customers are number one
• Single-source supplier
• Deep expertise in system engineering
• Experienced in factory needs and environments
• Optimized line efficiency
• Small footprint
• Efficient
• Creative

Douglas Stratum Palletizers are robust in design, build and assembly—built to last.

Robotic Palletizers with Douglas Machine Inc.

For end-of-line palletizing, the Douglas Stratum™ Robotic Palletizer completes your packaging process. The Stratum easily combines with Douglas packaging and cartoning or other upstream and downstream equipment for seamless integration. It completes your secondary packaging process, fully automated, from start to finish. At Douglas, we form a partnership with our customers. We listen to your needs and offer education on best practices, determining the most effective integration solution. Our engineering and manufacturing experts work closely with your team to customize a layout that meets your unique plant and process challenges while maximizing ROI. Our experience and drive for continuous innovation equal a creative, seamless and optimized solution for your unique needs. For more information on Douglas and our comprehensive palletizing solutions, don’t hesitate to call or message us. We look forward to working with you.

The Beverage Team at Douglas would like to thank everyone who visited our booth at Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America® held last week at Music City Center in Nashville, TN. It was a great show!

What is Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America?

The Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) is an annual industry event for brewpubs and packaging breweries. For professional brewers, the CBC is the main event in North America for concentrated, affordable brewing education and idea sharing to improve brewery quality and performance. The conference is also a great social event with thousands of brewing industry professionals enjoying craft brews together. BrewExpo America is the largest brewing trade show in the United States and is the premier show for craft brewers. With more than 700 vendors it is the place to shop for products and services for your brewery or brewpub. It provides the perfect opportunity to meet leaders in the national and international brewing arena. The trade show provides an environment that allows exhibitors and buyers to network and develop profitable business relationships. The show helps brewing and brewery restaurant professionals encounter the latest innovations and the best products that industry vendors have to offer. It is the only industry event that serves brewpubs, breweries and wholesalers! The Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America® is presented by the Brewers Association, a recognized leader in the national and international brewing arena.

What Can Douglas Offer?

Douglas Machine offers a variety of solutions for craft brewers, including:

Cartoning

• Vantra™ IM – The craft brewer’s choice for cartoning 300-600 cans/minute! Compact and economical intermittent motion cartoner capable of producing both cartons and trays on a single machine.
• Spectrum® – The ideal high-speed multipacker for cartoning beverage cans and bottles. Spectrum is available in a variety of platforms including Center Select, Side Select, Fixed Pitch and Split Pitch to meet the speed requirements of various applications.

Case Packing

• TriVex® RLi – This top loader and sealer offers craft brewers versatility with high speed automation.
• Axiom® IM – Case packing up to 40 cases/min with precise product control, capable of packing in wraparound or knockdown style cases and trays, with or without partitions.

Shrink Wrapping

• Shrink Packer Systems – Integrated machines for loose product collating, tray packing and shrink wrapping.
• Shrink Wrappers – Standalone shrink wrappers for trays of cans or bottles.

The Douglas Corporate Capabilities brochure provides more information about our values, capabilities and our commitment to provide the most effective solution for you. These additional resources provide more information on Douglas solutions, including rainbow/variety pack applications.

• Rainbow/Variety Pack Animation
• Large Variety of Ways Douglas Offers You More
• Your Next Round of Reliability is on Douglas

Craft Brewing Packaging Solutions from Douglas

Contact the Douglas Beverage Team today at 320.763.6587 or info@douglas-machine.com. Our 100% employee-owned company can provide a customer-driven experience for your packaging needs. Partner with Douglas for the experience, reliability and adaptability needed to provide you the ideal solution to meet your application and ROI goals. Your Next Round of Reliability is on Douglas!