Harrison Packaging has commissioned a Koenig & Bauer Duran folder gluer that has been designed and built specifically for the Stockton on Tees carton printer.
The unique machine is based on the standard Omega Allpro 110 and can handle both solid carton boards and micro flute boards that would normally need separate lines. “There was a lot of collaboration with designers and management at the Duran factory in Turkey,” says Harrison’s managing director Craig Turnbull. “It is designed to suit our work mix and the guys at Duran were prepared to make the adjustments to what was a standard machine to suit what we needed.”
The company needed this kind of machine after winning a major contract to provide the packaging for automotive parts which are supplied to motor factors, dealers and garages across the UK. Until Harrisons won the order the packaging had been produced on the European mainland. “The investment has helped us bring the contract back to the UK,” he says.
Harrisons was the first UK printer to install the current generation of Koenig & Bauer Rapida 106X presses in the UK when it installed an eight-colour plus two coating units machine in 2022. It runs Bobst die cutters and has two Bobst ExpertFold folder gluer lines. These are being retained with the Allpro providing additional capacity.
On site training has come from Koenig & Bauer team. Praising the project management, Turnbull adds: “Our people have taken to it really well because of the training they have received.”
The Allpro folder gluer is fitted with the full range of bells and whistles to automate as much as possible including the switch between the different substrates with minimum wasted material and lost time. “We are primarily a solid board converter,” he adds. “This machine gives us the speed and flexibility to switch between solid boards and micro flutes with the goal of making our makereadies and manufacturing much faster than standard.”
