Baling system: Upgrades and retrofit solutions

Balers from AUTEFA Solutions are characterised by reliability and durability. With several upgrades and modifications, we increase the production rate of your balers. High capacity for more fiber throughput and a higher number of pressed bales per hour, ensure a competitive fiber production. After analysing the pressing sequence, we update your existing software with new setups. The cycle time of the baling process will be optimized, and the capacity will be increased. Capacity increases of up to 20 % are possible. 

Through new developments and progress, we can optimize the existing hydraulic capacity. If the hydraulic capacity of the pre-press or main press needs to be increased, we offer customized solutions using new or additional pumps and advanced hydraulic piping technology to boost the hydraulic capacity. We can also upgrade the fiber production line with a new feeding shaft on the pre-press. A capacity increase of up to 40 % and more is possible.

The demand for fibers that comply with the requirements of the hygiene industry has increased enormously. The quality requirements for hygiene fibers are very high and production systems have to be adapted accordingly. The use of a hydraulic baler and an automated wrapping process are a must in order to optimize the baling process. Bale contamination, e.g. by human hair, can thus be avoided.

Producers of polyester, viscose and other technical fibers are constantly struggling to find solutions for processing short fibers with standard baling presses. Due to production limitations, it is difficult to press short fibers with standard baling presses. Most of the existing balers are designed for long staple fibers and are not suitable for short fiber production. A baler that is not specifically designed for short fibers has about 20 % fiber loss. A switch from long staple to short fibers can be planned and carried out very easily due to our experience, so that problems with additional cleaning intervals are avoided.

Switching production to low-melt fibers is a major challenge. Low-melt fibers have to be handled very gently. Friction points within the production line must be eliminated as they can damage the very sensitive fibers. A constant and uniform fiber feed to the weighing unit of a pre-press is very important. A new feeding unit ensures the even flow of fibers to the weighing device and leads to improved weighing results. The combination of a static condenser and a motor-driven feeding unit eliminates all disturbing friction points that can damage the very sensitive fiber.

In the production of siliconized fibers, particular problems can arise in baling these very active fibers. Our customers produce siliconized fibers by adapting the production process through special machine configurations. By increasing the hydraulic pressure in the baler, siliconized fibers, which have a high rebound force, can be pressed very well. Customers use 500 t balers from AUTEFA to produce heavy, dense bales. We optimize the system and recommend a new pre-press ram with a larger surface area, a higher press box for more volume, modification of the box retainer and increasing the number of bale straps. A new main press ram with a modified surface guarantees the bale shape and fixes the fibers when the main press box is lifted.

With the Automatic Strapping Unit AUTO-STRAP, the straps can be attached directly to the fiber bale, followed by film wrapping with our AD-WRAP unit. AUTO-STRAP can be combined with AUTEFA balers as well as with any other double box baler.

AUTEFA Solutions' patented AD-WRAP wrapping machine is an optimal solution for external bale wrapping, offering many utilization concepts at moderate costs. This efficient technology allows a perfect retrofit of manual balers and leads to a fully automated wrapping process. It reduces labor costs and ensures a safe and clean wrapping process avoiding contamination by human hair. AD-WRAP increases the capacity of a manually driven main press. Wrapping takes place outside the baler and does not affect the cycle time of the baler. Retrofitting a baler with AD-WRAP increases production up to 60 bales per hour.

AUTEFA Solutions patented Bale Sealing System BSS seals highly sensitive fiber bales for the hygienic industry. Most of the bale packing solutions, for manual bag packing or automated 3-sheet packing, end up with open pockets of the packing material. Therefore, bales are not 100% sealed against contamination. Interval tightening with AUTEFA Solutions Bale Sealing System BBS ensures that the PP-woven bale packing material will not be cut at the bale edges, even with very high strapping tension. Perfect sealed fiber bales meet the need of the highly competitive fiber market. The Bale Sealing System BSS can be retrofitted individually and is also an excellent supplement for new investment projects. It does not reduce the speed of the baling press and can be integrated into the bale transport system or installed as a stand-alone unit.

In a bale block storage system, the bales are stacked and stored at ground level. The stacking itself is realized by a special bale gripper that picks up 3 bales in one cycle to minimize the cycle time of the stacker crane. Block storage is much simpler in complexity and design than high-bay storage. The possible stacking height of the AUTEFA block storage system depends on the bale shape and the bale size. We have realized block storage systems for stacking 9 bales each as well as for stacking 6 bales each.

Support cranes and satellite systems for bale handling are key components of a high-rack warehouse. The design of a fully automated high-rack warehouse includes bale transport, bale stacking and sorting as well as bale shape control and a palletizing system. Other components include the installation of racks, a support crane that transports the bale stack to the loading channels and a satellite system that moves the bale stacks into and out of the flexible storage positions. For our storage concepts we realize the complete indoor systems. The construction has to be organized and handled by our customers according to local regulations. As a basis for building planning, AUTEFA provides space requirements and layout plans.

The failure of a single machine can lead to a complete stoppage of a production line. In the event of system malfunctions and downtimes, the specialists required to support the operating personnel for fault analysis and troubleshooting, are often not available. Service contracts from AUTEFA Solutions provide fast and effective support whenever you need it. Our service contracts help to improve cost efficiency for boosting maintenance, optimization, and modernization, minimizing downtime while extending the lifecycle of your system. A service contract with AUTEFA Solutions will enhance your operating efficiencies. The service contracts from AUTEFA Solutions consist of a range of modules and are individually tailored to the system to be maintained.

More about our service contracts