The Right Tool For The Right Job
When it comes to processing equipment, very few things are cut and dry. Your company may find a need to install a baler for your plastic or cardboard, but when you start looking at balers, suddenly you'll find yourself overwhelmed sifting through equipment that ranges from $8,000 for a downstroke vertical baler all the way to $400,000 for a brand new two ram automatic baler.
So which one is right for you?
Well, there are several ways to discover the answer to this question. Let's break down a few.
Volume
Keeping items out of the landfill is great for mother earth but we always suggest having a decent return on investment when you do so. The projected monthly volume of material that will be processed is a key component to discovering the right equipment. If your facility produces 10 tons of cardboard a month, then a simple downstroke, manual tie, baler would likely be ideal. These balers do not take up a lot of floor space, they are relatively easy to train your employees to use, and have great safety features.
On the flip side of that, we recently worked with a client that produced 10 tons a day of material that needed to be processed. They were presented with an "automatic" baler option from a vendor. The detail that was overlooked was the fact that the baler may have been an automatic cycling baler, but it was still a manual tie baler. At 10 tons a day for a large manufacturing facility, the manpower that it would take to tie off these bales of material would take away from their production time. After several discussions, we finally landed on a baler that would fit their unique needs and require little man power to operate.
Material
The type of material your company will be processing is equally as important when it comes to choosing the right equipment. If you need to bale a rigid plastic, then a single ram auto tie baler will likely function better as a boat anchor than it would a baler. The reason for this is because the lack of tension at the ejection port will likely cause these rigid pieces to fall apart or fall apart while moving the finished bale. These types of machines are best used for small paper products.
Footprint
We've seen it happen. A company desperately needs a baler to process their equipment, they call up a used baler rep, the rep tells them they have the perfect baler for them, they send them the money and the baler arrives... and.... it's way too big for their space. Companies need to ensure that the equipment they are buying can be integrated into the general production of goods at their facility. It's important to obtain very detailed measurements of the equipment and then physically map it out in your facility, including the ejection port direction, any in-feed conveyors, and ensure that there is ample space for maintenance.
If your company is buying their first baler, upgrading to another size, or need to integrate machinery into your production line, let S&F Development help with taking on your project.