A good report card is emerging from Liverpool, UK, where the first Ferag PolyStream polybagging line went into production as part of a field-testing partnership with client at Prinovis.

Polybagging process is becoming more important in the UK, with the major gravure printer foil-wrapping magazines and supplements produced for News International, an order which equates to 40 million foil-wrapped bundles a month.

The world-first PolyStream line has been running since October, and has more than doubled net output. Managing director of Prinovis Liverpool Richard Gray says the News requirement for difficult products to be packed in foil called for new solutions. “When Ferag was looking for a field test partner, we were immediately ready,” he says.

At net output of 25,000 bundles an hour, production on the PolyStream line is “stable”, with a variety of demanding collections processed involving “the most varied formats, paginations and substrates”.

PolyStream produces inline, from the collecting process through to the finished distribution-ready bundle. Components include the JetFeeder universal hopper, FlyStream collecting line, PolyPacer rotary sealing system and a high-speed conveyor system incorporating a high-performance clamp. Grippers transport bundles of up to 50 mm thickness to the bundling sector.

An integrated intelligent repair control function ensures that only complete collections pass to the foil-wrapping unit, resulting in “virtually zero” waste. The Prinovis line has 13 hoppers and Ferag has developed interfaces for third-party systems, a cooperation Gray says was vital.