Home > Sales & Service > Business Case Studies > Quick fix for costly reel-end damage

Quick fix for costly reel-end damage

Rejected reels were costing an English customer thousands of pounds per month. The solution? SCA Containerboard expertise…and a bit of sandpaper.

A large integrated box plant in the south of England had been reporting transit damage on paper reels from a certain supplier. Each month fifty or more reels of white top testliner were being scrapped. Corrugator crews observed scuffed reel-ends, saw the paper as unusable and rejected the reels.

Technical Customer Service representative Michael Devine visited the customer site to learn more. What he found was, as reels were unloaded from trucks and transported within the warehouse, the reel-ends were often scraped across the concrete floor. This caused damage to the edge of the sheet.  

Do-it-yourself approach

Michael showed the warehouse personnel that by simply using a bit of everyday sandpaper, they could smooth the damaged areas on the reel-end. In cases where the damage was more extensive, the reels could be sent to an exterior facility where a rewinder could cut a few centimetres of the reel width. It would still be cheaper than rejecting the entire reel.

Michael spent two days at the plant surveying reels and instructing staff. Eventually, all reels at the plant were inspected and either repaired or sent off-site for cutting. Total savings amounted to £26,000.

Now, corrugator crews at the plant no longer reject reels with scuffed edges but repair and reuse them, generating estimated monthly savings of £5,000. Workers are also more careful when transporting the reels.

“When I told them how easy it was to repair the reels, they were disbelieving at first,” reports Michael. As part of his excellent relationship with the customer, Michael is conducting ongoing reviews of paper waste during plant visits.