SubscribeWTL were the first UK company to manufacture a softwood pellet for the cat litter market back in 1985.
The success of WTL's cat litter is due to the growing demand for organic bio-degradable cat litters.
Smart Cat® manufactured solely from softwood flour ensures quicker absorption than other brands and immediately controls odours within the litter - not surprisingly Smart Cat® is now one of the leading brands in constant demand from the pet and veterinary wholesale markets.
UP-1000 ideal for short high speed batch runs
The new fully automatic, packing line has enabled WTL to reduce their unit price and enabled them to target a larger market with more competitive prices.
Increasing demand meant that WTL needed to find a high speed - yet versatile packing system, after a thorough market survey the Webster Griffin solution was selected on technical merit.
Initially the new line enabled WTL to cut back to one shift per day operation, however, the increased flexibility and lower unit price soon meant they were back to a two shift operation - packing double the volume. At the heart of the new packing line is the UP-1000 bagging machine which can change from packing one bag size to another "at the press of a button", this makes it viable for WTL to produce small 'non standard' batches.
Paper bags are sewn across the top whilst plastic bags are heat sealed and a carrying handle is punched out on the smaller 3kg, 5kg, 7.5kg, 8kg & 10kg bags. (A version of the UP1000 is available for packing dry and damp pet foods, which can also handle self-closing foil laminated bags.)
Both the bagging machine and robot palletizer adjust for different bag sizes automatically, therefore, changing from a 3kg gusseted bag to a 25kg pillow bag only takes two minutes. The UP-1000 will handle plastic or paper, pillow or gusseted bags.
Initially the new line enabled WTL to cut back to one shift per day operation, however, the increased flexibility and lower unit price soon meant they were back to a two shift operation - packing double the volume. At the heart of the new packing line is the UP-1000 bagging machine which can change from packing one bag size to another "at the press of a button", this makes it viable for WTL to produce small 'non standard' batches.
"The installation of the UP-1000 bagging machine and Okura robot provide us with the flexibility to pack from 3 to 25kg bags. This flexibility and associated reduction in manufacturing cost has allowed us to win contracts and supply own label products to the supermarket, pet wholesale and pet superstore markets.
The new packing line has been a boost to our business because it enables us to offer competitive rates for packing our own brand or customers own brand labels". For further information please contact Simon Thompstone, simon.thompstone@wtl-int.com or visit www.wtl-int.com.