Weatherchem has announced it made recent investments to produce a lighter 110mm Flapper closure, reflecting the company's commitment to sustainability.
Changes to the ordering and production process include:
• When an order is placed, what used to be printed on paper to create this order is now done entirely electronically via Weatherchem’s ERP system. Through paperless purchasing and order processing, Weatherchem's letter-size paper consumption decreased 10 percent through the first half of 2012.
• When this order makes its way to the production floor, it will be produced on a new press that Weatherchem recently invested in, which consumes 30 percent less electricity.
• Because of the new lightweight 110mm design, 20 percent less plastic will be used compared to the previous design. Using less plastic also requires smaller amounts of color to be added to the resin, while reduced cycle times for this process contribute additional energy savings.
• Machinery to stack the finished caps and automate the packaging process was added, enabling 80 more pieces to fit in each box of 110mm Flapper caps – an increase of 40 percent over the previous packaging method.
• The amount of packing material needed to securely fill the box is reduced with more caps per box, pallet and truckload. On average, transportation of Weatherchem’s annual volume of 110mm caps will now require 11 fewer truckloads.