DIARY

20052+27 February, Biofach WorldOrganic Trade Fair - The Mother of AllOrganic Trade Fairs, Nuernberg,Germany. Contact Johann-Caspar Roseat the German-Australian BusinessService on (02)9327 5889, fax(02)9362 4965, for more information.

19-23 April, l\4etPack - InternationalTrade Fair for Metal Packaging, Essen,Germany, www.metpack.de,r ^ , , A ^ ^ - - ^ ^ - - ^ ^ A ^tcyvr r r t r)>s-s>JYr r ,ur,

21-27 April, Interpack - 1 7International Fair of PackagingMachinery Packaging & ConfectioneryMachinery DUsseldorf. Contact BafthTrade Consulting Australia, (02) 896691 59, fax (02) 9907 8261, r.bafth@ger-man-trade. com. au, ww\r'/. german-trade.com.au.

28-30 April, Gutenberg Festival, LosAn geles, wvlw. gasc.org, info@gasc.org.

10-12 May, High Performance &Functional Pigments 2005, Toronto,Canada, www. inteftechusa.com,scotts@inteftechusa.com.

16-19 May, Appita Annual Conference& Exhibition, Auckland, New Zealand,www.appita.com.au,admin@appita.com.au.

24-28 May, Pacprint, MelbourneExhibition & Convention Centre,Melbourne, Visit www.pacprint.com.auor email brian.bradford@reedexhibi-t ions.com.au.

1-2 June, Smarl Supply ChainTechnology Show, Sydney, SydneyConvention Centre, Darling Harbour,info@smartsupplychain.com.au.

22-25 June, ProPak Asia, Bangkok,www.besallworld.com, or emaipropak@besa{lworld.com.

26-28 July, ProPak China - 1 1 thInternational Packaging & ProcessingExhibition, www.chinaallworld.com,propakchina@oesallworld.com.

11-14 Octobel AUSPACK 2005 -

Australia s Premiere Packaging TradeShow, wwwauspack.com.au, aus-pack@etf .com.au.

200527-31 March, Hispack InternationalPackaging Exhibition, Barcelon;,www hispack.com, hispack@f irabcn.es.

Weight watchingwith a differenceWhen Kimberly Clark needed to improve i ts product checkingprocesses, i t turned to Ward Materials Handl ing Solut ions to del ivera custom-bui l t solut ion with the abi l i ty to think for i tself .

Checking the weight of boxedproduct rolling off the end of amanufacturing line might soundsimple enough, but not when itcomes to tissue-based products,such as hand towels and facial tis-SUCS.

For David Bower, process designengineer at Kimberly Clark'sWalwick Farm plant in westemSydney, the ability to checkweighoutgoing boxes of faciai tissues andhand toweL clips was a functionthat would result in improvedquality control - creating advan-tages not only for Kimberly Clarkbut also for its customers.

Despite the simple solut ion -

to check the weight of outgoingboxes - the execution was com-plicated by the fact the weight oftissue-based products is neverconsrstent.

"The weight of things like handtowels and facial t issues variesaccording to the roll stock, sothere's bulk variations that need tobe considered to attain an accurareaverage weight," explains Bower.

To fulfil the function of ensuringcorect product weight, Bower hadto find a checkweigher capable ofhandling the bulk variations ofrollstock in order to create a movLngaverage for each product rolling offthe iine.

Enter Melboume-based WardMaterials Handling Solutions. Inlate 2003, Bower had seen a Wardcheckweigher in action at aMelboume cement factory.

" l t was real ly something Inoticed," explains Bower. "l wasimpressed with the robust natureof the Ward Materials Handlingcheckweigher - the fact it was suc-cessfirlly operating in the harshenvirons of a cement factory wasnretnr imnrcccirre "

Simon tVard, managing directorof Ward Materials HandlingSolutions, was contacted by Bowerto design, manufacture and com-mission a checkweighing system.

"l t was custom bui i t to suitKimberly Clark's application andthus keep mechanical reworking

of their existing conveyors to aminimum. This design of check-weigher has subsequently beensupplied to Norwood Industries, amanufacturer of plastic plant tags,as well as the wine industry" saysWard.

Bower says lVard's customdesign was integral to the successof the project, which was builtaround the concept of ease of use."lart of the beauty of the system isthat installation was such a simpleprocess - there was essentially nodowntime," says Bower.

To fulfil the requirement of amoving average weight for eachspecific product, Bower engaged aPLC programmer to create algo-

rithms that allowed the check-weigher to leed the informationback to the PLC to make the mov-ing average target weights.

"lt was the same contractorwho created the existing PLCsystem so he could make thecheckweigher interface seamless-l . " - , .1 . " . i1 . " h " . " . ' .

"There 's a nercenr ion tha tPLC systems are difficult to usebut they don't har-e to be. W'ecould har-e bought an off-the-shelf srstem from overseas, butthis u'ould have meant all we gotrl-as a black box that n'as difficultto get service and support for ifsomething u'ent rvrong," saysBorver.

Using algor i thms helps add some brain to the beef of WardMater ia ls Handl ing Solut ions' checkweigher at Kimber leyGlark 's Sydney manufactur ing plant ,

How it works.... As product moves overthe checkweighel a scanner reads a barcodeidentifying the product. The PLC calls up the last three recordedweights of the specif ied product, with the oldest recorded werghtdropping off the system to be replaced by the new weight, creatingthe moving average.. Tolerances are set as a percentage of unit weight (with upper and lowerlimits) and when an over- or undenrveight box rolls across the check-weigher, the system will divert the box onto a reject conveyor where thebox is physically removed and checked.

ffi """ FEBRUARY 2OO5