About Smurfit Kappa
Smurfit Kappa is one of the leading providers of paper-based packaging in the world, with operations in 23 European countries and 13 countries in the Americas. They are constantly updating their pack design and innovations to provide the optimum choice and packaging supplies.
Intended results
In their own processes, cardboard waste occurs in different stages of the production process: when setting up the machines, during folding and gluing, or at quality control. The goal of weighing waste flows is to accurately monitor those flows and to measure the effect of improvement measures that they implement.
Investment in hardware and software
To achieve the intended results, Smurfit Kappa has invested in iForks with a touch indicator for their forklift trucks, including data communication to their ERP system.
How does it work?
A forklift truck picks up a container with a known tare weight. The indicator display may show: L01, tare weight 50 kg. The container is loaded with materials from packaging products. The weight in the display goes up. The iForks wireless scale both weighs the container and transmits the weight data to the ERP system via wireless connection. The data can be monitored on an office PC, in ‘PC Read It’, showing exactly how much waste is produced on each production line. Wim Cools: "We capture waste flow weight data per production step, per day, and we link them to the order volume in production that day. The goal of weighing waste flows is to accurately monitor those flows and to measure the effect of improvement measures that we implement.”
Wim Cools, Production Leader
"Waste is a lost cost. By weighing waste flows and monitoring the information, we create awareness. Together we try to reduce the mountain of waste as much as possible."
About the application
Controlling waste flows
Every production process generates rest materials and waste. These waste materials are either recycled into the production process or removed and destroyed. These procedures are often expensive, making reduction of waste flows an important issue. Monitoring waste flows, i.e. knowing how much waste is produced at each spot in the production line, is the first step towards controlling and minimizing waste flows. With a mobile scale on the pallet truck or forklift truck that removes the waste material, you can efficiently measure waste production anywhere in production, finding out which processes should be optimized.
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