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Jul 12, 2023

Swanline rolls out new flute profile following £650k investment

Richard Stuart-Turner Monday, September 5, 2016 Trade printer Swanline Print Group has launched single-faced products, including a new flute profile for the UK corrugated industry, following its

Richard Stuart-Turner Monday, September 5, 2016

Trade printer Swanline Print Group has launched single-faced products, including a new flute profile for the UK corrugated industry, following its installation of Pivab rewinder technology.

The company invested £650,000 in the new machinery, as well as a custom-built bridge extension, an E&L web alignment system and a Delta Neu trim waste removal system.

The Pivab SFC 2583 2.8m-wide rewinder was installed earlier this year inline with the existing Fosber Corrugator at the CorrBoard facility in Scunthrope, which Swanline part-owns alongside seven other partners.

The rewinder facilitates the roll production of single-faced flutes, including F, E, B and C. It has also enabled Swanline to introduce a new I flute - a flute profile between E and B flute - for litho lamination or packaging rolls.

I flute has a narrower pitch and caliper than B flute and is said to provide a better aesthetic look to finished litho laminated cartons.

This makes it easier for converting in the lamination, die-cutting and gluing stages, which saves on transport costs and reduces carbon footprint due to more finished product on the pallet, according to Swanline.

“I flute has the same inherent strengths of B flute but better printability, so for many contact print processes like flexo, digital and screen, the quality of print you get is better because the flutes are closer together than B flute,” said chief executive Nick Kirby.

The Pivab equipment was designed by CorrBoard’s operating partner, Corrugated Synergies International and Swanline said it believes the set-up to be the first of its kind in the UK.

The system enables CorrBoard to run single-wall corrugated sheet on the corrugator for its partners in one direction, while simultaneously running single-faced corrugated for Swanline in the opposite direction.

The Fosber machine is now able to produce single-wall corrugated and single-faced materials of up to 2.8m wide simultaneously at speeds of up to 650 linear metres per minute.

“The Pivab allows us to run lots of different grades from the same machine, but as stock reel sizes rather than bespoke,” said Kirby.

“That way we are able to offer far better service levels, so instead of waiting maybe three to five days for material, it’s now two to three days and there’s a wider range of materials available because there’s more flexibility.”

Swanline Print Group, which has a turnover of £12m, provides a range of print, conversion and finishing services to the corrugated packaging and POS markets. The business has 110 staff and Kirby said the latest round of investment will enable it to create up to 10 new jobs.