Butler Automatic Announces Familiar Captain to Navigate Uncharted COVID-19 Waters

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Butler Automatic Announces Familiar Captain to Navigate Uncharted COVID-19 Waters

Middleboro, MA – Butler Automatic, a recognized leader for increasing output for roll-fed converting and packaging lines, announced the return of Andrew Butler as CEO of the company.

“Building on 64 years of innovation, we are experiencing unprecedented demand for Butler solutions from our key customers and OEM partners for packaging applications, as well as for converting industry applications.” Andrew Butler said. “I am enjoying engaging directly with our customers, and am particularly excited about introducing ground breaking new products as well as execution on commitments, and meeting customer commitments.” 

Designated as an essential business during the pandemic, Butler Automatic is working within the latest COVID-19 guidelines, and has continued manufacturing operations with 100% on-time delivery of Butler solutions, and uninterrupted parts and service support.  Butler sales have been strong through the first half of 2020 and growth projections for 2021 and beyond are strong. 

Dave Foskett - West and South Eastern United States Contact

As a leader in providing OEE improvements for the North American packaging industry through automatic roll splicing, Butler Automatic covers the U.S. market with well-known industry veteran David Foskett. David covers the West and South Eastern states including AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, HI, ID, KS, LA, MS, MO, MT, NC, NE, NV, NM, ND, OK, OR, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WV, WA, WY.

Contact David to learn how Butler can improve your overall factory output. 

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Butler Automatic will be exhibiting at the Global Pouch Forum June 11-13 2019

The flexible packaging industry (especially pouching) is experiencing fast, worldwide growth, with manufacturers seeing a shift in products transitioning to flexible packaging where it has not been used before. Butler Automatic builds automatic roll splicers for packaging applications. Butler splicers eliminate roll change downtime, which is the largest contributor to bagging and pouching line output loss. Visit Butler Automatic in booth #47 at the Global Pouch Forum, June 11-13th to learn how an automatic splicing solution can improve overall factory output for your application.

David Steines - EMEA Contact

Butler Automatic continues to grow in Europe and EMEA. Contact David Steines for OEE boosting solutions.

Contract Packaging and Butler Automatic

Contract Packaging in North America will be a $75 billion industry in 2020. A CPA associate member, Butler provides automatic roll splicing solutions to many co-packers, increasing their overall factory output.

Five Step Plan to Boost OEE with Automatic Roll Splicing

Butler Automatic offers top five tips to get the maximum Overall Equipment Effectiveness from reliable Butler Automatic splicers

Backed by the experience of delivering more than 17,000 automatic splicing solutions worldwide over the past 65 years, Butler Automatic has published a Five Step Plan To Boost OEE With Automatic Roll Splicing, which results in customers gaining several points of increased Overall Equipment Effectiveness (Availability x Productivity x Quality) for roll fed packaging lines. 

The first step is to involve Butler Automatic in discussions with roll fed applications equipment providers from the beginning of the project.  When the Butler team is directly involved on-site at installation and ramp-up, Butler achieves successful implementation quickly, 99% of the time.  The second and third tips are to utilize Butler’s One Point Lesson Plans (OPL’s), and Clean-Inspect-Lubricate instructions (CIL’s). With these documents Butler customers are able to train and maintain for top performance of Butler solutions, consistently achieving increased output by eliminating 100% of line stoppages for roll changes.  The fourth step includes having a short list of essential wear parts on-hand since Butler solutions consume very few wear parts. The fifth and perhaps most vital, is to establish a solid connection with our team. Butler service and parts teams support our applications 24/7.

Butler Automatic to Highlight SP1 and SP3HSL Automatic Film Splicers at PACK EXPO 2017

Visit Booth #3916 to learn how film splicers increase overall equipment efficiency

Butler Automatic announces that it will showcase its SP1 and SP3HSL Automatic Film Splicers at PACK EXPO 2017, to be held September 25-27, 2017, at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV. Butler Automatic experts will be on hand in Booth #3916 to demonstrate how Butler film splicers improve overall equipment efficiency (OEE) and increase packaging line output.

Drop by the booth to see how Butler equipment improves OEE – defined by equipment availability, performance, and quality. Equipment availability is improved by eliminating roll change downtime caused by manual film roll changes. Performance improvements come through Butler splicers’ consistent web infeed, resulting in fewer stops and starts. Butler splicers’ precise web control improves quality by providing filling and sealing consistency.

With a simple mechanical design and high-quality manufacture, the SP1 promises long-term, trouble-free automatic splicing performance. The device senses the diameter of the expiring roll of film and automatically splices the end of each expiring roll onto the new roll. It is capable of running at speeds of up to 600 feet per minute (FPM). The SP1 is an excellent investment for food, beverage, and medical device packaging operations because it drastically increases production uptime, improving your OEE, and resulting in a complete return on investment in just a few months.

Butler will also showcase its innovative SP3HSL automatic shrink sleeve splicer. Film roll changes must occur in shrink sleeve packaging applications as frequently as once every 8 minutes, and changing the roll by hand wastes minutes of production time. The SP3 Automatic Sleeve Splicer increases line efficiency by 9 percent or more in these applications. Capable of running at speeds of up to 600 FPM, the SP3HSL is ideally suited for increasing production time in consumer packaged goods and pharmaceutical applications utilizing shrink sleeve packaging.

Leading Pet Food Company Freshpet Cuts Downtime and Increases Output with Automatic Splicing

The engineering team at Freshpet, a leading US pet food manufacturer, specializing in fresh, natural pet foods, wanted to improve production efficiency on one of their pet food manufacturing and packaging lines. They came across a solution at PackExpo that led to cost savings ranging from $60,000 to $130,000 per year. What was this incredible solution? Automatic splicing.

Let’s rewind for a moment. The Freshpet engineering team audited their process and realized that one of the greatest sources of downtime and therefore lost efficiency in their ‘chub’ production line was the time it took to change the chub packaging film rolls when they expired. In this particular line, it took operators at least 6-8 minutes to replace the roll of film, something that needed to be done every 35 to 60 minutes. The hand-spliced film also led to alignment issues, bottlenecks, and even greater downtime.

During PackExpo 2014, Freshpet’s Engineering Manager Sam Torres saw a demonstration of the Butler Automatic auto-splicing technology, and recognized that it was the solution he had been searching for to reduce downtime and improve profitability on the company’s chub packaging line.

Freshpet reached out to the experts at Butler for an automatic splicing solution customized to their specific manufacturing process. The splicer, installed by Butler in April 2015, has cut downtime to less than one minute per roll change. Not only that, but Freshpet has ordered a second splicer for their facility expansion, and has used the feedback about upstream bottlenecks that the Butler splicer revealed in the current line to design a more overall-efficient line for the expansion project. This lead to greater efficiency, more product, and more profits!

Read the full story in Packaging Strategies.

Splicers Revolutionize Productivity for Food Processing Plant

Cincinnati-based JTM Food Group is still thanking its luck for stumbling upon a zero-speed automatic film splicer by Butler Automatic at PACK EXPO International several years ago. JTM vice president Joe Maas says they are still benefiting from the productivity wave three years later. JTM is a food processing plant with more than 700 food products, about 70 percent meat and 30 percent non-meat, which has grown from a neighborhood meat store in 1960 to today’s sales of $170 million, with 430 employees.

Until it purchased the Butler Automatic splicer, JTM was switching rolls of film manually on its Vertical Form Fill and Seal (VFFS) machines used for its grind and form and kettle cooking packaging operations. The time it takes to change rolls of packaging film is frequently the single greatest cause of downtime in packaging lines; Maas estimates that it was taking about 10 minutes for each packaging roll changeover, which mounts up considerably over the course of the day.

JTM had accepted this downtime as a cost of doing business until a few years ago, when while walking the PACK EXPO floors, Maas spotted a zero-speed automatic splicer exhibited by Butler Automatic. The splicing technology joins a new roll to an expiring one without stopping the production line. When the splice is complete the accumulator is re-filled and the expired roll can be changed while the new roll is running, eliminating roll change downtime in production.

Maas found the Butler splicer to be a straightforward machine that is routine to operate. He shared with Butler that the true cost benefit for a particular process depends upon how many hours one runs a VFFS machine. If lines are busier, the cost benefits became more obvious. Mass says he goes through 50 rolls a week, which translates into about 500 minutes or just over 8 hours of production time gained by adding the Butler splicer.

Maas said, “The bottom line is that the automatic splicers give us more uptime on our VFFS machines and we produce more product. I have made a lot of money as a result of stopping by their booth.”

Read more in the April issue of Packaging World.

Streamlining processes yields savings and efficiency gains

Why would a relatively small business choose to make the significant investment needed to implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system? There are many answers to that question, including streamlining engineering processes, improved inventory management, and better costing knowledge, and more efficient financial reporting.  This information is often extremely difficult to extract from legacy manual systems that rarely talk to each other.

Selecting the right ERP system is just the first step. Management commitment is needed for the software, training and implementation time required. Here’s an example of how implementing an ERP system allowed Butler Automatic to reduce its lead times for building machines, as well as improve its financial reporting.

Read the full article in Manufacturing & Logistics IT. 

Achieving Operational Efficiency and Vertical Start-up Through Technology Transfer and Training Plans

By William Brum, P.E., Manager, Aftermarket Parts & Service, Butler Automatic

Incorporating a new piece of equipment into a packaging line can be extremely difficult if proper technology transfer and training information is not provided by the OEM. World class OEMs’ work with customers in the early phases of sales and design processes, discussing existing equipment, process needs, and how new equipment will integrate into the existing operation. This integration is especially important, with consideration paid to physical incorporation into the facility, integration with other equipment in the line, operator needs, and more.

Experts from OEMs that provide top-quality technology transfer and training take a wide look at the process specifications and goals of incorporating the new equipment in order to properly plan for equipment startup. When OEMs do not take this careful approach to technology transfer and startup, issues are sure to arise that drastically hinder efficiency and performance.

Read the full article in Refrigerated and Frozen Foods.

Shrink Sleeve Packaging on the Rise

By Michael Mucci, Vice President of Engineering, Butler Automatic

Shrink sleeve packaging is on the rise, largely in the beverage industry, because it allows the product manufacturer to make use of the entire surface of the package for artwork and information. This type of packaging enables rapid, cost-effective packaging design changes, providing product marketing groups the ability to make sure that the product stands out from competitive products on the shelf. As with all packaging applications, finding ways to increase efficiency is critical in shrink sleeve packaging operations, as increased efficiency directly translates into higher throughput and greater profit margins.

Like all other packaging film, shrink sleeve film must be spliced together. The typical challenge to creating a hand splice in these applications lies in operators’ ability to achieve a consistent splice joint for smooth operation over the mandrel. In many cases, an overlap joint is created with the expiring tube of material being “tucked” inside the new tube, thus allowing the new material to be guided over the mandrel.  This can create issues if the combination of the tape and double-thickness of shrink sleeve does not move smoothly over the forming mandrel.

Automatic splicing technology in the form of the patent pending Butler Automatic SP3HSL Sleeve Splicer solves the challenge of striking a balance between fast splices to minimize downtime and accurate, well-formed splices. Butler’s SP3HSL provides a zero-speed, in-registration, automatic splice from an expiring roll of film to a new roll, all while continuously providing film to the downstream process at speeds up to 450 feet per minute without interruption or any need to reduce the process speed.  The SP3HSL provides a butt-splice joint with tape on both sides, ensuring smooth motion over the forming mandrel.

Automatic splicing technology enables packaging operations to fully reap the benefits of this type of packaging, in terms of marketing optimization and rapid, cost-effective packaging design changes.

Learn more from Food News International. 

Butler Automatic Introduces Enhanced Register Sensor for SP1 Automatic Film Splicer

Sensor provides greater resolution and simpler control for reduced packaging film waste 

Middleborough, MA– Butler Automatic, the inventor and global leader of automatic splicing solutions, announces that it has developed an enhanced register sensor for new and existing SP1 Automatic Film Splicers. The new register sensor improves upon the previous sensor’s accuracy and reliability, and features software that more precisely controls the splice position, thereby reducing packaging film waste.

The register sensor in the SP1 Automatic Film Splicer uses registration marks on the film to provide an automatic, in-registration butt splice. In doing so, the splicer provides the downstream process with a consistent product pitch or imprint spacing, eliminating the need for re-registering the film in the process after a splice. The register sensor is critically important to minimizing film waste.

Butler’s new register sensor delivers a wider range of sensing and has proven to be more reliable in distinguishing between similar colors than the prior generation.  As a result, manufacturers are now able to have print across the full width of the film, even when the print is similar in color to the black register marks.

Additionally, while the prior design required the operator to physically relocate the sensor in the in-web direction when adjusting between products of different length or pitch, the new control software allows the operator to achieve the same result simply by entering an offset value on the touch screen user interface. This enhancement allows operators to locate the splice in different positions on the final product more easily.

The new register sensor is available as an option on any new Butler SP1 Automatic Splicer. In addition, it is available for retrofit with any Butler SP1 Splicer that shipped with the factory-installed Bi-Directional Registered Splice Option and also has a touch screen user interface. In these machines, it provides the full functionality when installed as a retrofit. The retrofit includes replacement of the sensor head with the new head and amplifier, and upgraded controls and user interface software to support the registration offset functionality. Customers with older splicers who desire improved resolution can contact the Butler Service and Parts Department to check for retrofit compatibility.

Butler Automatic SP1 Automatic Film Splicer Reduces Downtime in Consumer Packaged Goods Packaging

Splicer performs non-stop film changes in CPG packaging operations 

Middleborough, MA– Butler Automatic, the inventor and global leader of automatic splicing solutions, announces that its SP1 Series Automatic Film Splicer is ideally suited towards consumer packaged goods (CPG) packaging applications. The SP1 Automatic Film Splicer increases efficiency in packaging operations by eliminating the packaging line downtime caused by manual film roll changes.

“CPG packaging operations can benefit from the introduction of the SP1 Automatic Film Splicer because it has a significant positive impact on line efficiency,” said Mike Mucci, Vice President of Engineering at Butler Automatic.  “The SP1 enables customers to eliminate the leading cause of planned downtime – film roll changes – and therefore to dramatically improve profitability.”

In eliminating film roll change and manual splicing, Butler’s automatic splicing technology typically reduces downtime by 5-10 minutes per operational hour. For a typical packaging line operating 20 hours per day, 6 days per week, this can yield up to 20-25 hours of additional production per week, or the equivalent of an extra day’s production.

With a simple mechanical design and high-quality manufacture, the SP1 promises long-term, trouble-free performance. The device senses the diameter of the expiring roll of film and automatically splices the end of each expiring roll onto the new roll. It is capable of running at speeds of up to 600 feet per minute (FPM).

In addition to the standard SP1 automatic splicer, Butler offers the SP1 RB, designed for full wash-down capability. The SP1 RB is built to standards common with many regulatory requirements. It features mostly stainless steel construction, with only specific splicing head cylinders using coated aluminum, and has minimal flat surfaces.

Benefits of Pre-Applied Zipper Packaging Film

Reclosable packaging is in a period of rapid growth, as many manufacturers realize the added value reclosable features offer consumers. This is especially true in the food industry, where a push towards reclosability has led to the implementation of a number of reseal technologies: traditional zip locks, slider locks, reusable adhesives and even Velcro-like closures. You may be considering adding a reclosable feature to your packaged products, or may have heard about the hype around new kinds of packaging, but likely have questions about the affordability of such a change. Packages constructed from pre-applied zipper film can be an ideal tool for companies looking to make the shift from traditional to reclosable packaging without significant cost or lag time.

Read the full article in Food Manufacturing.