The pulp and paper industry is demanding in terms of efficiency, performance, and energy consumption. Paper and pulp production is considered one of the most challenging among many manufacturing processes. It involves critical steps, from sourcing raw materials to conveying rolls to handling them to warehouses. Each step being labor and resources intensives. Thus, it needs to be optimized with assiduity.

This post explores how EPIQ Machinery refashions manufacturing and material handling processes, ultimately making pulp and paper operations more efficient and profitable.

From Truck to Pulper Feeding System: EPIQ global solutions will make you stay ahead

EPIQ Machinery is committed to improving productivity, safety, and profitability, in paper mills. It accomplishes this goal through the following solutions for the paper and pulp industry.

Pulper Feed Systems are designed to break down and process raw materials into a pulp consistency for papermaking.

Nowadays, mills are using a variety of fibers from virgin to recycled that comes in various shape and sizes of bale and/or bulk. EPIQ Machinery brings de-wiring, destacking, and conveying solutions ensuring that the pulper is fed continuously, free of straps, wires, and other foreign contaminants.

EPIQ Machinery offers the following equipment upstream from the pulper:

• Pulp and Wetlap Bales: Made from wood fibers or recycled paper, the bales are the primary raw materials for papermaking. Pulp bales come in various forms, and EPIQ has specific machine designs to handle each, or combinations of furnish. The efficient management and processing of these pulp bales are imperative for sustaining a smooth and economically viable production workflow. EPIQ Machinery acknowledges this critical need and provides pulp bale handling solutions designed to improve this fundamental aspect of paper production.
• Recycled Bales: With the growing environmental awareness, efficient handling and processing of recycled materials have become important in the pulp and paper industry. EPIQ Machinery is no stranger to green initiatives and has developed a bale dewiring system for recycled material. The R-Dewire system has high productivity and high safety standards. It optimizes the collection and utilization of recyclable materials, including wastepaper bales, OCC bales, shredded bales, and trim bales. This makes the recycling process more efficient.
• Automatic Dewiring Systems: EPIQ Machinery’s automatic bale dewiring systems help safely remove wires from paper bales. These systems use cutting devices, conveyor belts, and robotic arms, to precisely cut, remove, and collect the binding materials from the bales. These solutions can be used as a system package or in individual pieces of equipment that can be retrofitted into your application. It can be installed at the dockside, or at the mill, to automatically feed your fiber line.

From Winder to Warehouse: EPIQ Machinery offers integrated handling, wrapping and warehousing solutions

Roll Handling Systems: EPIQ Machinery is committed to help players in the paper and pulp industry to boost their productivity and safety with its cutting-edge roll handling systems. Paper rolls are soft and must be handled carefully to ensure their form. EPIQ Machinery’s solutions, such as winder decks, conveying, and warehouse systems, help manage paper rolls effortlessly during storage, transportation, and various stages of production.

• Winder Decks: These automated systems designed by EPIQ Machinery collect rolls ejected from the paper machine. Rolls are inspected, accumulated, and then separated.
• Conveying Systems: These systems by EPIQ Machinery ensure damage-free roll handling. They can be used when lowering or elevating rolls, basic conveying with either belt, chain, or slat conveyors, or bilge transferring on impact-free MoveRoll™ decks.
• Warehouse Systems: These systems are an extension of many roll-handling systems. They feature roll upender, lowerator, rotator, accumulation conveyors, and label positioners, the essential elements of any successful warehouse system.
• Roll Wrapping Systems: Paper rolls are fragile and have high chances of being damage if not handled properly. Secure and protective wrapping of paper rolls is important during storage and transportation. EPIQ Machinery’s solutions help streamline and enhance the roll-wrapping process, delivering both efficiency and reliability.

It doesn’t matter whether you are using overhead type, low-profile, or mini-wrapper concept, Roll Wrapping Systems from EPIQ Machinery incorporate the following six basic operations:

1. Product identification
2. Wrapping
3. Head placement (manual or robotic)
4. Crimping
5. Heading
6. Labelling.

EPIQ Machinery offers both types of wrappers that can be customized to meet your application requirements:

• Kraft Wrappers: As the name suggests, these wrappers used kraft liner for wrapping paper rolls.
• Stretch Wrappers: Axial or radial stretch wrappers are the two types of stretch wrapping systems in the market. Our customized system configuration provides a wrapper dispenser without protrusion.

Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) and Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR)

The paper and pulp industry involves several large-scale operations demanding the movement of heavy products or materials over extended distances within expansive facilities.

By integrating automated guided vehicles (AGV) and autonomous mobile robots (AMR) technologies, EPIQ’s handling solutions multiply. These two automated technologies, prevent congestion imposed by fixed equipment. They open the door to greater flexibility, thereby reducing investments and modifications to infrastructure.

EPIQ DTA AGVs/AMRs line of equipment facilitates quick and easy transportation across the mills. Depending on the task and the working environment, EPIQ will choose the best navigation system. The vehicles navigate predetermined paths and perform material handling tasks that would otherwise require human efforts. Additionally, they streamline logistics and material flow, enabling a just-in-time production process, and optimizing space utilization. EPIQ Machinery offers custom-made or AGVs/AMRs to meet your application requirements.

In addition to the above, EPIQ Machinery offers Aftermarket services that help customers optimize the value of their investments in the paper and pulp industry. After-sale services, training, installation, commissioning, and start-up, technical assistance, technical audits & equipment optimization are some aftermarket services offered by us.

Our Aftermarket team pledges to respond quickly to our customers’ needs by offering a wide range of services with a proactive approach and proximity support, aiming for optimal and sustainable performance of our equipment.

We support our equipment until the end of its useful life. We offer a comprehensive suite of services and solutions designed to provide our customers with unprecedented value and cost savings throughout the life span of equipment and systems. These services help reduce overall maintenance costs by minimizing their production downtime and improving business profits.

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