Green Bay Packaging is a pulp and paper manufacturer using 100% recycled materials to produce a wide variety paperboard packaging. Large bulk rolls are slit and sized based on customer demand, and moved to a work cell in stacks where they are loaded onto skids for final shipping. Occasionally the large rolls need to be loaded into a machine to be rewound prior to shipping. The size of the rolls vary significantly, but can be as large as 3’ x 5’, and weigh as much as 600 pounds.
The primary problem facing the company in this application was operator injury, especially back strains. Back injuries were the leading cause of lost time injury for the company, and at one point were occurring as frequently as once per week. While most rolls are far too big for a single operator to lift, some smaller rolls are tempting for an operator to move manually in a time saving effort.
The company began looking for a lifting solution that would be able to reduce the number of employee injuries, while at the same time handle the paper rolls without product damage.
“The two options being considered were an up-ender and a crane with a manipulator,” said John Frederick of Green Bay Packaging. “The problem with the up-ender was that we couldn’t handle the rolls the way we wanted to when loading the skids. The manipulator became important for stacking multiple rolls.”