CASE STUDY CHEMISTRY

A STORY ABOUT
PACKAGING FERTILIZER

A story about packaging fertilizer

MAJOR FERTILIZER PRODUCER PLACES TRUST IN STATEC BINDER

1979: The very first fully automatic bagging machine for open-mouth bags and especially for fertilizer from Binder+Co AG (parent company of STATEC BINDER GmbH), called ABF/SPK, is sold.

1986: The first four fully automatic bagging machines for open-mouth bags for fertilizer are sold to Finland. The beginning of long and good cooperation. More than 30 years later, this customer is one of the world’s largest producers of fertilizer and already has 50 STATEC BINDER machines in operation worldwide.

High-performance bagging machine Certopac

THE REQUIREMENTS

The fertilizer producer was looking for a solution to reduce the dust and respiratory pollution for employees when packing the fertilizer. At the same time, performance and output were also wanted to be increased.

Change to fully automatic packaging of the fertilizer
Increased performance of packing and palletizing
Packaging of fertilizer in woven PP and PE bags
Long-lasting machines
Easy operation and maintenance of the machines
High efficiency and flexibility

THE SOLUTION

For more than 40 years STATEC BINDER has been supplying fertilizer producers worldwide. The partnership with one of the largest fertilizer producers now exists for over 30 years.
Since fertilizer has special properties, such as hygroscopic and corrosive, packaging machines must be constructed for this specific purpose and built-in parts must be protected. This guarantees the long-life cycle and reliability of the machines for many years.

Competent consulting when changing to fully automatic packaging
Special execution of the machines for fertilizer
Optimization of packaging systems for the alternating handling of woven PP and PE bags
Easy accessibility of the machines for maintenance
Maintenance and service plans to ensure reliability and efficiency

From Colombia via Guatemala to Mexico and across the Atlantic to France and on to Northern Ireland, Scandinavia, and Holland – STATEC BINDER machines are used worldwide by one of the largest producers of fertilizer.

The first four bagging machines for open-mouth bags were purchased by the European fertilizer producer in 1986, as the company wanted to switch to fully automatic bagging machines in order to reduce the dust and respiratory load for the employees. On the other hand, the customer wanted to achieve higher output and as the Binder+Co AG was one of the first suppliers of fully automatic high-performance bagging machines, the Austrian company was chosen as the supplier.

The special characteristic of the bagging machines was that they were specially manufactured for fertilizer. To be precise, this means, for example, that stainless steel was used for a wide variety of applications, there was increased corrosion protection due to the coating and the machines were equipped for heavy-duty. Even today, great importance is attached to these features in the development of the machines. Throughout the years the bagging machines have been further optimized, also together with the customer.

“We learn from the experiences of our customers and integrate these in the best possible way into the further development of our machines,” says Josef Lorger, Managing Director of STATEC BINDER GmbH.

For example, special measures were taken to reduce dust emissions in the product flow and to adapt the machines to the operating environment, e.g. high humidity, so that hygroscopic products do not become sticky and are always free-flowing.
Over the last 33 years since the first four bagging machines were installed in 1986, 50 machines have been installed worldwide for the customer. These include several bagging machines for open-mouth bags, high-level and robotic palletizers as well as FFS machines, net weighers, and bag closing machines. The particular challenge at the beginning of the cooperation was to optimize the machines so that they could handle both woven PP and PE bags alternately.

The CERTOPAC, a fully automatic high-performance bagging machine for open-mouth bags, has proven itself for the customer. Some machines of the predecessor model ABF/SPK are still in operation after more than 30 years of service.

In particular, the good cooperation with the Austrian company, the reliability, and the long lifetime of the machines were decisive for the fertilizer manufacturer to buy more machines. Since the machines have to run 24 hours a day during the high season, simple operation, simple maintenance and the efficiency of the machines were also crucial in order to purchase more machines.

The packaging lines were gradually upgraded with the PRINCIPAL-H, a high-performance high-level palletizer. The PRINCIPAL-H palletizes up to 2400 bags per hour and is therefore the perfect complement to the high-performance bagging machines. The high-performance robot palletizer PRINCIPAL-R is also already in use for the customer.

In addition to a number of CERTOPAC bagging machines in various versions, the FFS machines SYSTEM-T and SYSTEM-F were also installed at the customer’s premises for fast bagging in PE bags. A significant advantage of the STATEC BINDER FFS machine SYSTEM-T is its easy accessibility and low maintenance requirements. Especially for corrosive products such as fertilizer, it was ensured during development that all important parts and cable connections are well protected by stainless steel housings.

The customer’s packaging stations have also been expanded with semi-automatic Big Bag filling stations and manual bagging machines.

A total of more than 280 fully automatic bagging machines and palletizing systems for processing fertilizers in woven PP and PE bags have already been installed and commissioned on all five continents. Due to the stable and robust construction, the long lifetime, and reliability of the machines, STATEC BINDER is a well-known specialist when it comes to bagging and palletizing fertilizer. In addition, the Austrian company constantly proves that the customer’s requirements have top priority and it is looking for the perfect solution for bagging and palletizing the respective product. For these reasons, many fertilizer producers rely on STATEC BINDER machines, and long-term and successful partnerships are established. One thing is certain for STATEC BINDER: only through the experience and feedback of the customers, it is possible to continuously further develop and optimize the machines in order to meet the requirements of the customers and to ensure satisfaction.

REFERENCES CASE STUDIES

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