Food & Drink Process & Packaging Issue 20 2018 | Page 26

The perfect set-up for change Röfix AG’s portfolio comprises around 200 different building materials, e.g. masonry mortar, renderings, paints, coatings and unbonded screeds. To make sure that the correct quantity of these materials gets to the customer safely and on time, the manufacturer places a special emphasis on filling, palletising and packaging technology. BEUMER Group provided an entire system to the site in Sennwald, Switzerland and integrated it into an existing building. The system can be flexibly adapted to the different materials, no retrofitting required. The individual system components are easy to maintain and operate reliably. This ensures high levels of availability and prevents downtimes. A mountain range, characterised by the summits of the Chrüzberg, Stauberen and Hoher Kasten, dominates the panorama of the extensive Rhine plains. Here in 26 FDPP - www.fdpp.co.uk Sennwald in the canton of St. Gallen, nature enthusiasts, hikers and bikers enjoy the forests, meadows and winding paths. The Austrian building materials manufacturer Röfix, member of the Fixit Gruppe, has one of its five Swiss locations in this picturesque town with its approximately 5,000 inhabitants. “We are manufacturing our entire product range here,” describes Josef Sennhauser, CEO of Röfix, Switzerland. “Among the some 200 different building materials are fine plaster, different types of concrete, masonry mortar, screed and adhesives,” adds plant manager Gerhardt Welte. “Each of these products has very different flow properties.” This can be a challenge. In order to remain competitive, not only the quality of the building materials is important, but “Manufacturers must also be reliable in getting their products to the customer on time,” Sennhauser emphasises. “One of the most decisive factors for customer satisfaction is staying on schedule.” To achieve this, the Suisse subsidiary needed an adaptable packaging line that could quickly bag, palletise and then package the finished stack with a stretch hood. In the past it had repeatedly incurred downtime on individual machines and workers had to do extensive retrofitting on the line when products changed, which caused delays. Decision for the right partner Röfix’ experience has already been positive with solutions of BEUMER Group at some of their other plants. This is why those responsible turned towards BEUMER Group as a one-stop shop for filling, palletising and packaging technologies. “Not only do our customers look for reliability, we expect the same from our suppliers,” says Welte. The key requirements for the packaging line, besides adaptability, were mainly