Fameccanica Discusses New Hygiene Machinery Technologies

04.05.17

New baby diaper and high speed baby pant machines among Italian company's latest innovations

Fameccanica Group is a leader in the development of machinery for manufacturing hygiene products, delivering custom solutions and anticipating needs in respect of sustainable development. The company will be presenting its latest technologues at INDEX17.

Innovision Machine is a Fameccanica diaper machine concept based on FA-X P10, with excellent performance levels and high quality products for end users. "Innovision" is the name of an internal Fameccanica contest, based on selecting innovative ideas submitted by its employers. The project started in 2009 and every year the best ideas are awarded. The features of the machine provide new solutions for raw materials and innovative combinations of ultrasonic and thermo-bonding technologies. Together they contribute to reducing the environmental impacts and allow cost saving of €1.5 million ($1.6 million) per year, estimated for each baby diaper machine FA-X P10 - 1000 ppm. These are the seven features:
  • Glueless Cuffs: The thermosealing cuff elastics application replaces the standard version with glue. This is a new process solution based on a thermo-mechanical bonding system to fix cuff elastics between two layers of nonwoven in intermittent mode. In terms of tension-elongation, the Glueless solution offers the same results as standard application with glue.
  • Fameccanica Lamination System (FLS) with integrated tape: The in-line application of tape between two FLS nonwoven layers, replaces the standard FLS version, achieving a stronger bonding of the tape inside the back ear. The results are: raw material saving, more breathability, more resilience: the same elasticity performances for different cycles of use, no contamination with glue.
  • Glueless frontal tape: The in-line creation of frontal tape on nonwoven backsheet with ultrasonic bonding replaces the standard version with glue. Fameccanica Glueless frontal tape structure is the combination between the nonwoven backsheet and a nonwoven acting as a loop through ultrasonic sealing. The results are: raw material saving, more softness, pattern customization, no contamination with glue.
  • Intermittent SAP & X-THRUE Core Control System: The targeted SAP application on the absorbent core replaces the standard homogeneous distribution. The X-THRUE controls SAP presence and its position in the core, and returns the signal to machine PLC to ensure an accurate application. Main uses and advantages are: on line monitoring of the pad quality; retrofit control and dosing accuracy; easy integration with standard industrial logic components.
  • Glueless Leg Elastics and Narrow Poly: The Thermosealing System for the application of leg elastics replaces the standard process with glue. Leg elastics are fixed between two layers of nonwoven in intermittent mode. This solution is combined with the reduction in the width of poly backsheet. In terms of tension-elongation, the Glueless solution offers the same results as standard application with glue.
  • Glueless ADL: The Ultrasonic System for ADL application replaces the standard process with glue. ADL lamination on topsheet with ultrasonic sealing, gives a better appearance to the topsheet, which becomes softer and nicer. The new solution offers the same or even improved performances in terms of acquisition time and wetback, if compared with the standard product version.
  • Fluffless Core: The Innovative Thin Core replaces the standard SAP & fluff core. Fameccanica fluffless core solution is a version with SAP entrapped inside the ADL. The main outcomes: excellent results in terms of acquisition time; New SAP immobilization; breakthrough integrity.

Also at INDEX, Fameccanica will discuss FA-X P10X, the new high speed baby pant machine, with cross-direction process which incorporates MHR ultrasonic multi-up side sealing. Thanks to the flexible manufacturing, now is possible to switch elastic threads and side elastics films on the same machine. About the performance: the guaranteed production speed is 900 ppm or 350 m/min.

Meanwhile, Easylife is the new, original suite expressly created by Fameccanica and Microsoft to manage a complex plant in a very easy way. Control, security and saving are the main features of “The Simplicity Maker.” It combines cutting-edge applied manufacturing technology with the latest in digital innovation, creating a “company collaboration network” that facilitates the management of factories and manufacturing plants through the collection, exchange, distribution and use of ordered information, guaranteeing a significant advantage both in performance optimization and economic terms, allowing easy non-stop monitoring production plant performance every time, everywhere.

With Easylife, all operating data from factories and individual plants are collected, laid out in timeline, processed and shared among the different organizational roles, in total safety guaranteed by the Azure cloud, developed by Microsoft and integrated with Office. Each customer has proprietary access to the data, being allowed to define specific dynamics, hierarchies, and data display modes. The data are always accessible through the web from any device, including mobile devices.

Production managers can monitor the performance of each machine, while Fameccanica experts can perform remote diagnostics and provide support based on data collected directly from the production plant. Maintenance is also simplified: interventions can be planned in advance, using precise and detailed information collected over each machine life cycle.
Easylife also contributes to the creation of a company learning resource, which evolves over time and facilitates the safe and confidential re-use and sharing of knowledge. Now the Suite includes the innovative Interactive Digital 3D Documentation, in order to navigate the machinery in a visual, three-dimensional interactive way, finding any technical information and documents everyone may need.

Further, the new PAKSIS D-10 is an integrated stacking & bagging machine at high speed and flexibility. The product range is: baby diaper, training pants, small incontinence product.  It is designed to work into two different configurations, based upon the same platform:
  • Single lane operating at regular speed, for the packing of medium to large counts
  • Dual lane for the lowest counts

It is equipped with its own PLC to be easily integrated with the converter and with its electrical cabinet on board. About the performance:
  • Infeed speed: up to 1200 ppm;
  • In single lane configuration: up to 60 bags/min (in case of single row); up to 35 bags/min (in case of double row);
  • In dual lane configuration: up to 105 bags/min (only single row).

PAKSIS D-10 has been developed by Fameccanica and Optima and can be “touched” at the Paksis booth.