Tech Takes Center Stage at Signode CEC

From the outside, Signode’s Customer Experience Center (CEC) is unassuming. At over 100,000 square feet, it looks like an oversized warehouse—fitting for its location in a Roselle, IL, industrial park. But inside?

For those interested in packaging, it’s more like an amusement park. A large showroom floor with working equipment is set up to reflect a production line, offering myriad packaging options along the way. Customers will also find a training center and an International Safe Transit Association (ISTA)-certified Packaging Lab. In addition, the building houses manufacturing capabilities and is home base for Signode’s Automation and Packaging Technologies (APT) division.

Signode encourages demonstrations and tours—which is how I found myself inside, being shepherded by Rick Hantke, marketing and innovation leader and director, strategic marketing and customer insight; and Kent Longardner, manager of the Packaging Lab.

Signode opened its CEC in 2023 to help customers, including corrugated manufacturers, customize equipment solutions that meet their needs. Hantke calls it the “integrated solutions part” of Signode’s customer offerings.

“One of my favorite things about my job is that we are in a unique position, given Signode’s portfolio, to give our customers what they need. We cover many different areas, so we don’t need to push one technology. It’s really satisfying to be able to simply listen to the customers.”

Safe, damage-free transport has become increasingly important to manufacturers and consumers, says Longardner. “It’s all about that unboxing experience. That’s a person’s first contact with the product, so if you’re the manufacturer, you want it to be perfect.”

Signode is the Transit Packaging Division of Crown Holdings, Inc. With annual revenue topping US$2B and more than 80 manufacturing facilities around the world, the company manufactures a wide range of transit packaging consumables, tools, software, and equipment that improve end-of-line packaging operations and protect products in transit. For corrugated manufacturers, Signode offers equipment designed to either stand alone or integrate with a plant’s existing end-of-line packaging process. This large portfolio brings together hundreds of brands to provide everything a corrugated plant may need for seamless, modular solutions.

SPOTLIGHT ON TECHNOLOGY

Warehousing and transit have been the company’s focus since its founding in 1913 as Seal and Fastener Company. Today, Signode counts strapping as a “core competency,” says Hantke—manufacturing steel, plastic, and even paper strapping, with plenty of options for customizing, date-stamping, and more. It also collects used strapping for recycling.

Signode offers stretch wrap and other protective packaging as well and makes specialized machines and tools to optimize bulk packaging processes. The company is a pioneer in the industrial packaging sector, with a long history of customer-focused innovations in materials, processes, and automation technology.

“Look around and you’ll see signs that say, ‘We’ll protect it from here,’” says Hantke, gesturing at the CEC’s display floor. “It’s not just our motto; it really is the story we’re trying to tell.”

Here’s a closer look at some of the equipment Hantke and Longardner demonstrated on my recent tour.

First stop: a Little David CF5-AF semi-automatic case former; it’s paired with the Little David LDX-RTB case sealer, a semi-automatic machine that can process cartons of different sizes, levels of void/fill, and weight with no change-over. Little David is one of several sub-brands within the Signode family and covers a range of case packaging equipment. Modularity within the line allows manufacturers to configure to their own requirements.

A Simplimatic robotic packaging arm demonstrates the level to which processes can be programmed to meet the needs of the packaging line: at the CEC, the robot lifts the partition board, which features the Signode logo, pausing to display the logo to visitors before placing the partition atop the first layer of product. It then precisely lifts and places the next layer of product.

“That last movement there—you’ll see that it actually touches the flaps (of the box) to make sure that they’re open, so the equipment can automatically position the product correctly,” explains Longardner.

These pieces are part of what Signode calls its PackPoint Complete Packaging Solution, the only packaging solution in the industry that streamlines five job functions into one compact unit: forming, packing, sealing, printing, and labeling. This reduces labor and improves efficiency.

Further on, a SIG-C automatic corrugated bundler provides high speed bundling capabilities for flexo-folder corrugated products. Features include easy-access strap guides that require no tools for entry; extra-long strap coils with over 40 percent more strap; and quick-change dispensers to reduce coil changeover frequency. All are designed to help boxmakers reduce downtime and keep the line running.

Another offering on display for corrugated customers is Signode’s GCU-3 Corrugated Compression Strapping System, specifically designed for strapping all types of corrugated loads. It features up to six strapping heads, with a modular head design for easy maintenance and strapping “cartridges” that can be simply and quickly replaced.

“Most customers won’t need to use all six heads for every job,” Longardner says, “but the modular design gives them a lot of options for placing the straps. It also makes it easy to reconfigure if one head is being serviced.”

The GCU-3 has an automatic strap re-feed module, correcting any strap misfeeds without operator intervention. It also features sensitive compression and variable head tension to provide optimal load integrity—important considerations for corrugated customers, says Longardner.

Load containment is another step in the process where Signode offers a variety of options based on customer requirements. A variety of wrappers and hooders are on display at the CEC. Signode also produces its own films—including machine stretch film and oriented (i.e., pre-stretched) film—to maximize equipment efficiency. The choice helps customers hit their specific goals, whether cost savings; ease of use and maintenance; or even sustainability targets, with options that feature post-consumer recycled materials.

Options showcased at the CEC include the Cobra G rotating arm wrapper, a semi-automatic option that can be attached to the wall, floor, or a pillar on the line. The advantage here is consistent wrapping, regardless of operator skill or experience. Also on display, the Yellow Jacket 87-SA orbital stretch wrap machine can handle over-sized or oddly shaped palletized loads while the pallet is on the forklift. The horizontally positioned stretch wrap dispenser can maneuver around and under the load, to significantly reduce wrapping time compared to wrapping the load by hand.

For a fully automatic option, Signode has a line marketed under its Octopus brand that covers low-, medium-, or high-capacity production. The CEC’s Octopus S Series automatic rotary ring stretch wrapper is a fully automatic pallet wrapping machine incorporating the latest technology and the Octopus ring-type method. This versatile machine has a modular design that provides innovative options for customers.

“We even have wrappers that can automatically seal the tail, so a wrapped pallet can continue through the line,” Hantke tells me. “It’s about giving the customer what their process requires.”

Marketed under Signode’s Lachenmeier brand, the Multi FleXL is a showstopper on the CEC floor. Tubular stretch wrap is stretched over the load from the top, for five-sided protection during storage or transport. Designed for large format wrapping, plants can configure the machine with up to four film rolls, allowing them to choose the size that fits best for each load. The machine is serviced at floor-level for easier maintenance and features a variety of film patterns, including fully closed hoods, film sleeves, short hoods, and film reinforcement capabilities.

“Our hooders are used a lot by corrugated plants on the west coast, with customers who need clean, outdoor storage of corrugated packaging,” says Longardner.

Once everything is ready to go, Signode even offers a fully-automated, highly customizable Warehouse Management System (WMS). Looming large on the CEC showroom floor, the StorFast Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS) is a modular, cart-based solution that uses powered carts to automatically move pallets in and out of storage positions in a warehouse array tailored to the size and needs of a mill or plant. Especially for corrugated producers, which often must try to store more options in existing facilities, the system’s compact space requirements can be an important benefit.

Part of the StorFast solution is an intelligent logistics management system that integrates order management, warehouse management, and order fulfillment systems. The vertically expandable storage modules rely on all-electric powered vehicles for automatically storing and retrieving pallets, plus a pallet lifter designed for smooth conveying and reduced energy use.

MORE THAN MACHINES

The working machinery may be the highlight for customers who need help visualizing what they need—but it’s not the CEC’s only function. It is also home to Signode’s flagship Packaging Lab (another facility in Sonderborg, Denmark, serves customers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.) The lab replicates real-world transit conditions to optimize and validate packaging performance. The Packaging Lab is industry-certified to standards set by ISTA, ASTM International, the European Safe Logistics Association (EUMOS), and the Association of American Railroads (AAR). It allows customers and other packaging producers to test the resiliency and efficacy of different packaging protocols. Standard tests conducted by the lab include drop testing, load stability, environmental testing, incline impact, and random vibration. Passing each test can be much more complicated than some customers think, says Longardner.

“Vibrations for rail car transport are rather subdued,” he explains. “Airplanes produce very high frequency vibrations from their engines. For truck transport, different types of trucks have different vibration profiles. We can test for all of these.”

Of particular interest is a specialized Rough Handling Course built right into the showroom floor—something Signode first developed in the 1960s. “The test course recreates fork truck handling of palletized loads by recreating the vibration and shock that unit loads experience during fork truck handling over dock plates, while loading/unloading into trailers and trucks. This test delivers comparable results,” Longardner tells me. “More recently, this course was placed into ISTA’s test procedure standard for distribution replication.”

The CEC also houses Signode’s “Reliability Services University,” which offers classroom and hands-on training across the Signode portfolio. It’s a collaborative space for customer support and strategic planning. “It is a great resource for training both Signode service technicians and Signode customers on the operation and maintenance of our equipment and solutions,” Hantke says.

WHAT’S AHEAD

Signode’s broad portfolio of integrated strapping, palletizing, ASRS warehouse systems, and other automation solutions, including after-market service, reflects the vision the company has for the future of corrugated production. “We’re seeing the corrugated industry trending towards more modernization and automation with consolidation and creation of ‘super plants,’ requiring faster, more-efficient production. Our corrugated customers are going to have increasingly complex needs,” Hantke says.

Longardner has some final advice for corrugated customers facing those challenges. “You need to tell us what your goals are,” he says. “From there, we can customize a solution.”