Adaptation and anticipation of customer requests are two of the fundamental characteristics that a company must possess in order to survive in a constantly evolving industrial landscape, such as that of the paper converting sector. These directives have marked the growth of ERO from Castenedolo (Brescia) since 1994, making it a leading player in its reference market.
ERO did not lose its identity and independence after the acquisition by the American Valco Melton, a leading company in the gluing and quality assurance sector, which took place in 2016, maintaining management, production and R&D in Italy.
Despite the small reality, ERO was able to look beyond its comfort zone in paper converting, anticipating the competition of large multinational groups in opening up to the market for industrial paper sacks and bags.
The innovative solution of ERO, which glues the bags through non-contact distributors, marries the green demands of this historical moment and guarantees numerous advantages. Our solution reduces adhesive consumption by more than 50% in multiple gluing phases compared to traditional and expensive contact solutions.
Through a different philosophy in the use of glue, the economic and environmental costs of its disposal are also eliminated. Water consumption also benefits from this solution. The new system works in a more precise and clean way, completely eliminating the traditional tanks that required frequent washing with a considerable use of water. The advantages do not end there: the entire system is designed to significantly reduce start-up times during format changes and requires the minimum possible time for maintenance. Even from a mechanical point of view, the times and costs reserved for maintenance are much more than halved.
In addition to traditional vinyl solutions, ERO gluers have the ability to use 100% vegetal-based starch adhesives, maintaining the biodegradability of the bags.
ERO has also developed dedicated software for simple management of the systems both on the tuber and on the bottomer machines, using a modern and familiar interface.
The impact on the entire production process is impressive. It is no coincidence that Mondi Group, a global leader in packaging and paper solutions that are sustainable by design, has established a long and fruitful collaboration with ERO, aimed at updating its production means located all over the world, starting from the Italian factories, continuing with the European ones, up to the American ones. Thus, starting from the province of Brescia, ERO’s solution is receiving important feedback all over the world, creating a global brand footprint.
Opening our capabilities to a new market sector did not mean abandoning traditional applications, for which ERO has become synonymous with quality and reliability, but has given them new momentum. The need for sustainable production in corrugated cardboard and folding carton has led to the evaluation of new solutions to reduce waste. Hence two important collaborations with universities in the area. ERO is developing, through a collaboration with the University of Brescia and MADE CC, a software solution based on deep learning, aimed at improving the performance of camera glue control systems in the paper industry. Through our collaborative project with the University of Parma, a new capacitive sensor for the corrugated carboard sector has been developed.
Both projects pursue the goal of providing an effective and easy-to-use quality control system, automating system learning processes as much as possible.
In short, the world of packaging is engaged in a radical transition from the use of plastic to that of biodegradable materials, primarily paper and ERO is ready to play a leading role.
