NONWOVENS INDUSTRY: A New Era for Downstream Wipes Packaging

Thanks to Nonwovens Industry for publishing the following piece about our game-changing downstream wipes packaging machinery. You can read the full piece here:

A New Era for Downstream Wipes Packaging

In what has been a volatile time for the industry to say the least, Shemesh Automation Wet Wipes, a division of Shemesh Automation, has identified two major industry trends affecting its global customer base in the wet wipes market. Firstly, with the dramatic increase in demand for wipes over the past 18 months, manufacturers have looked to leverage the competitive advantage conferred by upgrading to high-speed, high-quality packaging lines. Secondly, whilst the wipes market was once dominated by canisters, there is now a critical mass of demand for wipes in flexible packs  – a demand that is testing existing manufacturing capabilities to the absolute limit.

That is why Shemesh Automation Wet Wipes is delighted to present a trio of its newest innovations, designed and engineered specifically to address the needs of the global wipes market in support of this new era in downstream packaging.

1.    SAS160 & SAS500: Round Wipes Canisters Stuffers

These all-new models are capable of running at 160ppm and 500ppm respectively. Building on the great empirical success of our SAS60, SAS120 and SAS250 round wipes canisters stuffers (designed for 60ppm, 120ppm and 250ppm throughputs respectively), Shemesh Automation, the first company in the world to successfully launch a high-speed vertical round wipes canisters stuffer back in 2013, is now introducing two more models to the market.


The SAS canisters wipes vertical stuffer series, now available also in 160 and 500 ppm.

For the 160ppm SAS160 model, Shemesh is using the exact same proven technology as our current 120ppm SAS120 model while slightly increasing the turret size in order to achieve the higher throughput.

Our SAS500 also uses the same proven technology which is then multiplied from 1 to 4 turrets inside one monoblock, resulting in 48 stuffing stations into which four rolls are being simultaneously fed via four independent chutes. The “Quadro Approach” is quite similar to the Shemesh SAS250 Duo Stuffer of which Shemesh already has multiple successful installations.

SAS500 Main advantages:
*     Proven concept
*     Easy to changeover – one turret at a time while others can still run – thereby minimizing downtime significantly.
*     Safety separators built-in to separate the turrets
*     Can run any or all turrets
*     Jam in one turret will not stop the other three turrets from running – thereby allowing continuous operation

Furthermore, the SAS160, SAS500 and the rest of the Shemesh Stuffers – SAS60, SAS120 & SAS250 – now incorporate enhanced software and more industry 4.0 features making the Shemesh Stuffers easier to track efficiency, more user friendly to operate, while functions as smart “Roll Crash Prevention Control” mechanisms contribute to a more consistent, accurate and quiet operation than ever before.

2.    CITADEL X: All-In-One Downstream Packaging Machine for
Round Wet Wipes in Ready-Made Bags At A Throughput Of 100-120ppm

Following the smashing success of our Citadel-R and Citadel-J monoblock models (for all-in-one packaging in lower speeds of refill/consumer and jumbo rolls respectively), the Citadel-X is our most recent in-line design for higher speeds of 100-120ppm all-in-one downstream packaging for dry and/or wet applications when packing up to 300ct rolls in stand-up-pouches.

The new Citadel-X design builds upon decades of Shemesh Automation’s proven expertise in different technologies, such as liquid filling, rolls stuffing, bag feed, bag opening and conduction sealing.

3.    TKS200: A-Z Canister Wipes Line. From Master roll to Palletizing.
Following the company’s announcement from last September, Shemesh Automation Wet Wipes is currently on track with the build of its all new TKS200 complete A-Z canister wipes line. The TKS200 includes a Shemesh made stuffer, filler, sealer, capper, labeller, cans descrambler, end of line case packer, palletizer, rewinder integration, buffers, smart continuous sealer and labeller magazines as well as built-in quality control features throughout the TKS200, which is designed to run at a constant speed of 200ppm.


The SealPro200, a part of the Shemesh TKS200 line for canister wipes – from the master roll to cases on a pallet.

Shemesh will showcase two TKS200 machines at the Shemesh 1600 square foot stand at the INDEX show in Geneva, Switzerland this October. After that the entire core line will be demonstrated to selected market participants at the Company’s North American headquarters in Green bay, Wisconsin.

The Shemesh-made canister wipes lines are the only ones in the world made by just one manufacturer. This is a huge advantage – not only because of Shemesh’s exquisite expertise in building these lines which contain such different technologies from stuffing to liquid filling, conduction sealing, capping, labelling, case packing and palletizing, but also from both software and mechanical integration as well as from an after sales perspective.

Shai Shemesh, CEO of Shemesh Automation, commented: “Covid-19 has changed many industries forever, and ours is not an exception. Regardless of whether or not Covid-19 is here to stay, one thing is certain: the world is now more hygiene-conscious than ever before. While we see a short-term stabilization in market demand, we also believe that medium as well as long term demand should remain elevated relative to pre-covid-19 levels.

In addition, the pandemic and the resulting shortage in raw materials – coupled with a stronger awareness to sustainability – accelerated the use of round wipes in stand-up pouches. From what we concluded from collaborating with customers in the market around the world, Shemesh believes that this trend, too will not fade out but only intensify. Indeed, we keep on seeing the sharpest increase in CITADEL sales to an extent these are now catching up with our XPANDERS’.

Observing the above trends and listening to the market played a crucial role in our decision to develop the tools we bring to market today in yet another step in an already familiar trajectory of constant growth together with our customers.”

This article was first published on Nonwovens-industry.com (28 September 2021) You can read the full article here.