Is Your Paper Bag Production Flying Off the Handle?

Are you having trouble running high speeds for your handled bags?

Background

Demand for paper bags has significant potential as the packaging industry transitions back to paper from plastic. This has led to a resurgence at many retailers and grocery stores offering paper bags. For the most part, these bags are similar to the first paper bag invented over 170 years ago. One noticeable difference is the handle. While the handle is over 100 years old, it has become a staple in the return to paper as a replacement to plastic shopping and grocery bags that have handles.

The Problem

Today’s bag machines are running faster and faster to keep up with demand that is quickly outpacing manufacturing capacity. While many machines can run over 300 cuts a minute without handles, once the handle patch is introduced, speeds can be hard to hit, even 75 cuts per hour. Trying to run at elevated speeds can literally cause the handle patches to fly right off the paper web if you use the wrong adhesive. Besides the obvious quality issues with missing handles or handles that are barely hanging on or will break off the bag as soon as something is put into the bag, the problems don’t stop there.

Even worse is the problem those handles cause in the downstream points in the paper bag machines. As the paper web is folded over, the handles can jam the web, causing breaks in the paper that can shut down the machine and take 20 minutes to refeed the paper. Several web breaks in a shift can cost tens of thousands of bags that don’t get made, making it difficult to achieve production goals.

The Solution

Capital Adhesives has developed the HydroTack® BG880 as a proven solution that can take speeds from 75 bags a minute to over 180 bags a minute, depending on the machine. This product can be used as the handle patch glue, side seam, and even some pinch bottom glues, depending on the machine setup. The HydroTack® BG880 is a high-adhesion product that sets much faster than standard competitive products.

This product has been proven to increase speed on both the rope handle patch and flat handles. This product can be used in tandem with the right hot melt, such as the ThermoTack™ BG100, when making the rope handle patch.

The HydroTack® BG880 has the flexibility to withstand the extreme forces that the paper web is subject to in a high-speed paper bag manufacturing machine. If you are interested in running handled bags at higher speeds, contact us today for a sample.