Established in 1994 and headquartered in Holon, Israel, Pack Line Ltd. (Pack Line) is a recognised world-leading manufacturer of packaging machines and supplier to some of the biggest names in the food, dairy and cosmetic industries. The company produces innovative linear, rotary filling and sealing machines, piston fillers and MAP systems that increase productivity and operating efficiency while lowering operating costs.
Traditionally, Pack Line relied on techniques like metal forming or CNC machining to create replacement parts for all its machines. But the lead time to produce complex, customised parts,as well as sourcing replacement parts proved extremely costly, especially considering PackLine’s extensive international customer base. For a solution, Pack Line worked with SU-PADto implement Stratasys FDM® additive manufacturing. “To produce a complex metal machine part using CNC would cost at least$100 per unit and we’d always be obliged to purchase at least four units,” says Alex Karetny, engineering department manager at PackLine.
“However, by using the Stratasys Fortus450mc, the cost is reduced to around $80 per unit. Not only do we enjoy a cost-saving, but thanks to the ability to 3D print a customised part on-demand, there is no minimum order requirement. On certain orders, we are witnessing cost savings of up to 55%.”
Cost savings aren’t the only benefit. CNC or metal-formed replacement parts also need to be outsourced and due to low quantities, typically take a minimum of one week to produce. In contrast, the Fortus 450mc can produce are placement part in only two hours – huge time savings for customers. Pack Line also benefits from this time savings in the initial design stage, enabling them to deliver customer machines faster. Simultaneously, any production line downtime caused by malfunctioning parts can be dramatically reduced.
