ZR-DH1200 Delivers 120 Cartons Per Minute, Doubling Output for Polish Packaging Supplier

A local packaging factory in the Wielkopolska region of Poland has more than doubled its hourly carton output following the installation of a Zray ZR-DH1200 double head high speed carton forming machine. The machine was commissioned in January 2026 and has since become the primary production asset for the facility’s corrugated carton operations.

Prior to the Zray installation, the factory operated two single-head forming machines, each rated at 50 cartons per minute. Combined peak throughput reached approximately 8,000 cartons per hour under ideal conditions. The aging machines suffered from increasing maintenance demands, with combined unplanned downtime averaging 12 hours per week in the final quarter of 2025.

The ZR-DH1200 features twin independent forming heads that operate in parallel, each capable of processing 60 cartons per minute. The dual-head architecture allows the machine to run at full capacity or, alternatively, to maintain production on one head while the second undergoes format changeover or minor maintenance. This design eliminates the production losses typically associated with single-head machine stoppages.

“We were initially sceptical about whether a single machine could replace our two existing lines, but the ZR-DH1200 has exceeded every production target we set,” said the factory’s Operations Director. “In our peak week, we produced 520,000 cartons—a figure we could not have approached with our previous equipment.”

Machine Specifications and Operating Parameters

The ZR-DH1200 is designed for medium to large format corrugated cartons, with a maximum blank size of 1,200 mm by 900 mm and a minimum of 350 mm by 250 mm. Each forming head is equipped with independent servo drives for the feeding, forming, folding, and delivery stations, enabling precise synchronization and minimal mechanical linkage.

Hot melt adhesive is applied by two independent Nordson ProBlue systems, each with four heated hoses and application guns. The dual-system configuration provides redundancy—if one adhesive system requires maintenance, production can continue on the second head at reduced capacity rather than stopping entirely.

Production Results and Efficiency Gains

After three months of continuous operation, the ZR-DH1200 has delivered measurable improvements across all key performance indicators:

• Hourly Output: Average of 10,800 cartons per hour, representing a 35% increase over the combined output of the two previous machines
• Machine Availability: 97.4%, compared to 88.6% on the legacy machines
• Scrap Rate: 0.28%, down from 1.1%—equivalent to approximately 4,300 fewer scrapped cartons per week
• Labour Efficiency: Two operators now manage the ZR-DH1200, compared to four operators required for the two previous machines
• Energy Consumption: 11.2 kWh per 1,000 cartons, a 19% reduction versus the legacy equipment

Changeover times have been reduced from an average of 35 minutes to 14 minutes per format, thanks to motorized format adjustments controlled via the HMI touchscreen with recipe storage for up to 99 formats.

Customer Feedback and Support

The factory has established a framework agreement with Zray’s European service network for quarterly preventive maintenance visits and priority spare parts supply. Two factory technicians completed a one-week advanced maintenance training course at Zray’s Hangzhou facility, covering servo drive diagnostics, adhesive system calibration, and PLC troubleshooting.

The Operations Director added: “We have been particularly impressed by the machine’s stability during long production runs. On our previous machines, we could not run more than four hours without a stoppage. The ZR-DH1200 regularly completes eight-hour shifts without interruption, which has transformed our production planning.”