Efficient production relies heavily on each part of your machinery working flawlessly. One such critical part is the strapping head in your strapping machine. In this article, we explore the significance of strapping head rebuilds and how they help maintain production efficiency.
Strapping Heads: The Role They Play in Streamlining Production
When it comes to strapping machines, a vital component is the strapping head. Without a functioning strapping head, the entire strapping process becomes inefficient or completely halts, leading to potential bottlenecks in production lines. This component is responsible for tensioning, sealing, and cutting the strap, ensuring that packages are securely banded for transport or storage. Regular maintenance of the strapping head is essential to prevent unexpected downtime and to preserve the longevity and reliability of the machine.
There are two series of strapping heads that are most commonly used in industrial packaging; plastic strap series and steel strap series. Both have their advantages and roles, and choosing the one that best suits your business needs will depend on the materials being packaged and secured.
Plastic Strapping Head
The plastic strap series is a lighter option, designed for more flexible packaging needs. With the break strength of virgin plastic straps ranging between 425lb - 4000lb, dependent on the width and thickness of the strap, it provides a reliable solution for industries such as lumber, concrete brick, food, beverage, and consumer goods.
Moreover, the friction and heat blade seal on the plastic strap contributes significantly to its strength, with a break strength above 85% of the material break strength. This ensures a gentle yet highly secure hold, providing all the necessary protection for transportation.
Metal Strapping Head
The metal strapping series is built for tough and heavy strapping applications. Notably, the break strength of virgin steel straps lies between 900lb - 7900lb, varying with the width and thickness of the strap. This makes it a popular choice in the metal refinement and manufacturing industries.
In addition to its inherent strength, the metal series offers a range of sealing methods like crimping and welding, which enhance the security of the strapping joint. The weld seal boasts a break strength above 80% of the steel strap material break strength, while the crimp seal surpasses 85%. This ensures a tight hold even on irregularly shaped packages, making the metal series ideal for packages and bundles needing a strongly secure hold.
Strapping Head Rebuilds: A Look at the Benefits
Understanding the importance of the strapping head, not only to the strapping machine but to production as a whole, it is evident that a malfunctioning or broken part will cause a complete halt. Knowing this, companies do have the advantage of avoiding many of these delays by proactively maintaining their strapping heads, which also allows for benefits such as:
Increased Machine Functionality and Reliability
The dependability of a strapping head will be significantly improved by functionality inspection and worn-out parts replacement. Over time, many mechanical components will degrade, causing drive shaft play, gear teeth misalignment, or tensioning failure from corroded or stressed springs, among others. Regular maintenance mitigates these issues, enhancing both the machine's functionality and reliability and ensuring it consistently meets production demands.
Extended Lifespan of Strapping Machine
When strapping heads are thoroughly cleaned and freshly lubricated, crucial parts operate with minimal friction. This practice significantly reduces wear and tear on vital components and structures. A strapping head that is not well-maintained can cause issues across various mechanisms, leading to additional parts needing service. By ensuring the strapping head's longevity, companies can avoid the cost of prematurely replacing this critical component, thus realizing significant savings over time.
Enhanced Strapping Machine Consistency
Strapping head rebuild also includes cleaning wiring and connections, and replacing faulty sensors. This ensures accurate data transmission from the strapping head to the machine's Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). These steps not only revitalize the core functionality of the machine but also improve the precision and reliability of the tensioning, sealing, and cutting mechanisms. As a result, the strapping machine's performance consistency is significantly elevated, leading to a more efficient and reliable production process.
Reduce Downtime
One of the most important benefits of rebuilding strapping heads is that it is a preventative measure that reduces unnecessary downtime during operations. While a strapping head is being rebuilt, trained technicians will identify and rectify any wear or points of failure. This approach ensures that the strapping head and machine are functioning correctly, essentially fixing a problem before it has a chance to become a real problem.
Itipack’s Service Solution: Step-by-Step
Since strapping heads are a vital part of the packaging process, with the potential to grind production to a halt, it is imperative that they are serviced by experienced technicians. At Itipack, our team is not only highly skilled, they also understand that time is of the essence. When rebuilding strapping heads, the process is as follows:
Step 1: Functionality Inspection and Quote Process
The process begins with skilled technicians conducting a comprehensive functionality inspection of the strapping head. They assess the overall condition and identify any issues affecting the performance.
Based on their thorough inspection, a detailed quote outlining the scope of the rebuild (including repairs/replacements) is provided.
Step 2: Meticulous Disassembly and Cleaning
Once the work order is confirmed, technicians carefully disassemble the strapping head, ensuring every component is accounted for and inspected.
The disassembled parts are then meticulously cleaned using an ultrasonic parts washer, which removes dirt, debris, and old lubricants, preparing the parts for further inspection and reassembly.
Step 3: Resurfacing and Corrosion Prevention Coating
Once the parts are dry, our technicians turn their attention to any surface imperfections on the block and vital components. These can be hairline grooves, corrosion build-ups, slight warping, or minor unevenness caused by wear and tear, lack of lubrication, overheating, or dust accumulation. As long as these conditions are within acceptable parameters, they will be addressed through sanding and polishing.
After the resurfacing process, we apply a layer of protective coating to the strapping head block. This is an essential step for preventing future corrosion, and ensuring the longevity and reliability of your equipment.
Step 4: Replacement of Worn-out/Failing Parts
During the cleaning and inspection process, technicians identify parts that are worn out or likely to fail. All of these identified parts are replaced with OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts to ensure compatibility and reliability.
Step 5: Calibration to OEM Specifications
After cleaning and part replacement, the strapping head is carefully reassembled and calibrated according to OEM specifications. Adhering to OEM specifications is crucial to maintaining the integrity of the machine, allowing it to operate as intended and providing consistent and reliable performance.
Step 6: Cycle Testing and Quality Assurance
Once calibrated, the strapping head is loaded onto a specialized testing platform that simulates real-world strapping operations. Our technicians run multiple cycle tests to identify any strap feeding or sealing flaws. If detected, immediate mechanical and electrical recalibrations are performed.
Next, all seal samples from these tests undergo a strap pull test on a testing machine. This process verifies the sealing efficiency against specified standards, ensuring optimal performance. If seals don't meet the standards, additional calibrations are conducted.
The final stage involves a comprehensive quality assurance check, confirming that the strapping head meets all functional and reliability standards.
Quality Assurance: Why Choose Itpack for Strapping Head Rebuilds
With so much of your company's production riding on the ability to properly and quickly package products, having the right service technicians rebuilding your strapping heads is essential. At Itipack, our commitment to quality remains our primary focus and is achieved through:
Expertise and Experience
With over two decades of experience in the field, our team stands out as industry experts in strapping head rebuilds. Having an extensive background provides a deep understanding of every nuance involved in the process, guaranteeing that each rebuild meets the highest standards of quality and reliability.
Highly Trained Technicians and Above Standard Procedures
Our technicians undergo rigorous training, equipping them with the knowledge and skills necessary to tackle even the most complex rebuild challenges. We pride ourselves on not just meeting, but consistently exceeding standard quality metrics, setting a new benchmark for excellence in every project we undertake.
Specialty Tools for Precision and Accuracy
We employ an ultrasonic parts washer and an array of speciality tools designed to enhance precision and accuracy during the rebuild process. Utilizing advanced tools plays a crucial role in ensuring that every component of the strapping head is meticulously cleaned, inspected, and restored, aligning with our commitment to unparalleled quality.
Quick Quality and Superior Service
Understanding the importance of minimal downtime, our team is dedicated to providing quick, quality service that gets your operations back up and running efficiently. Our streamlined processes and expert approach ensure that every rebuild is not just fast, but also upholds the highest standards in the industry.
Final Words
Strapping head rebuilds, often overlooked, are crucial elements in the seamless operation of packaging lines. These seemingly minor components hold immense responsibility, ensuring the consistent and reliable strapping of goods—a fundamental process that generally isn’t thought of much, until it fails.
Don’t wait until production and packaging lines screech to a costly halt to protect your investment and keep operations running smoothly. Itipack knows that even the smallest parts are pivotal to the broader business success, so reach out to learn more about how strapping head rebuilds can save you time and money.
