Executive summary
Wallace Press opened for business in 1908 and have provided their customers with the highest quality of printed and bound products as well as print management services. Wallace operates more than 40 manufacturing facilities, nine distribution and warehousing hubs, and 150 sales locations. They have won numerous awards for excellence, both from customers and industry associations. To hold strong to their mission, Wallace Press sought a solution that would even further their commitment to their customers. Shuttleworth’s innovative Slip-Torque® conveyor helped Wallace ensure the utmost level of product delivery quality for their published materials.
Customer challenge
The plant manager of Wallace’s facility in Hillsdale, IL stated that “On some conveyor systems, marks will appear on the covers of the final product due to the type of roller system being used.” Wallace was in search for a system that could deliver books and catalogs without any damage and also provide an even workflow due to various packaging and mailing systems.
The Solution
The complete system has the ability to transfer and accumulate as many as 200 bound catalogs prior to being send to one of three finishing and mailing lines. One of these possible destinations is an automated bulk palletization machine where catalogs are cased or put on pallets. If case binding were needed for the catalog, the product would head for another destination that lead to a specialized binder. If book folding were required, the same conveyors would lead the catalogs to Wallace’s specialized packaging machinery. In fact, Shuttleworth shipped the infeed conveyor to the manufacturer of the specialized packaging machinery so the system could be seamlessly integrated into the existing design.
Results
The actual solution provided gentle product handling which met Wallace’s objective of the product being free of any “conveyor marks” through the implementation of Shuttleworth’s Slip-Torque roller technology. This particular application works by accumulating products with minimal line pressure, meaning the conveyor rollers underneath the product stop when the product stops in order to accumulate. Slip-Torque compares favorably with a belt system where the conveyor runs constantly underneath the product- which can lead to scuffing or other damage to the final product.
Wallace’s engineers also requested the installation of a modem within the conveyor’s control panel. This allows automated control settings to be changed off-site by Shuttleworth’s engineers, making adjustments “remote and instantly” if needed. This benefit proved to be very valuable in Wallace’s automated system.
The Shuttleworth Slip-Torque conveyor system improved Wallace’s efficiencies, decreased downtime, and most importantly, allowed them to give their customers a final product of the highest quality.
