Case Sealer OEE: Tape, Flap Folding and Blocked Case Packers

Key takeaways

• A case sealer's typical losses are tape outs, tape not cut, flap folding jams and blocked time from the palletizer.
• Tape outs are a material routine, not a machine fault.
• Poorly sealed cases are its Quality loss, even when someone fixes them by hand.
• Most sealer stops are short and stay between the case packer and the palletizer.
• Its own Availability is usually high once blocked time is taken out.

Case sealer OEE measures the machine that folds and seals the top flaps of a packed case, usually with tape or hot melt glue, before the palletizer: how long it runs, how close to its rated speed, and how many cases leave properly sealed. Its usual losses are tape outs, tape not cut, flap folding jams, poorly sealed cases and blocked time from the palletizer.

Fabrico, an OEE and light MES platform, logs each stop with its reason and keeps own stops apart from blocked time. This guide covers where the case sealer's time goes, how to measure each factor, how its stops travel back up the line, and a worked shift.

Where does the case sealer's time go?

A case that arrives overfilled or out of square is often the case packer's problem, not the sealer's. Our case packer OEE guide covers the machine before it.

How do you measure Availability, Performance and Quality on a case sealer?

• Availability = run time / planned production time. Own faults reduce it; in the full view, so does blocked time.
• Performance = cases sealed / (run time x rated cases a minute). Random sealers that adjust to case size may have a rated speed per case range.
• Quality = cases sealed right first time / cases sealed. Cases resealed by hand count against it.

The sealer is usually faster than the case packer feeding it, so it waits for cases much of the time. Performance against its own rated speed will look low on a line fed at the packer's pace, and that is design, not a loss.

How do case sealer stops travel back up the line?

When the sealer stops, packed cases back up on the conveyor from the case packer. When that conveyor is full, the case packer is blocked. When the product buffer in front of the case packer is full too, the filler is blocked. Each buffer buys some minutes, so a short sealer stop usually stays local.

When the palletizer stops, the sealer itself is blocked. Charge those minutes to the palletizer. Our guides to palletizer OEE and starvation and blocking explain both directions.

What happens at a case size change on a case sealer?

A fixed sealer needs new guide and tape head settings for each case size; a random sealer adjusts itself within its range. For fixed sealers, record settings per case size and mark the positions, so the change is a set of known moves rather than a test by trial. Check the first sealed cases before the line runs at speed.

A worked shift on a case sealer

Sample line (illustrative numbers, not a customer): a tape case sealer rated at 25 cases a minute, after a case packer that sends 20 a minute. The shift has 450 minutes of planned production time. The buffers between the sealer and the filler add up to 3 minutes.

• Availability, all causes = 400 / 450 = 88.9%.
• Availability, own causes only = (450 minus 12) / 450 = 438 / 450 = 97.3%. The palletizer carries the blocked minutes.
• Quality: 8,000 cases sealed, 64 resealed by hand: 7,936 / 8,000 = 99.2%.
• Which stops reached the filler: none. The longest own stop is 2 minutes, inside the 3 minutes of buffer back to the filler.
• Six tape changes a shift is about one an hour. A tape low check before each change, and a spare roll at the machine, turn most of them into planned seconds instead of unplanned minutes.

On this line the sealer's own losses are small and local. The useful finding is the 12 blocked minutes, which belong on the palletizer's list.

Which mistakes do plants make with case sealer OEE?

• Charging blocked time to the sealer, so the palletizer's faults stay hidden.
• Booking tape outs as machine faults instead of a supply routine.
• Ignoring cases resealed by hand, so Quality looks perfect.
• Blaming the sealer for overfilled cases that come from the case packer.
• Filtering out one minute stops. See our guide to micro stops.

Where Fabrico fits

Fabrico is a computer vision enabled Manufacturing Performance Platform. OEE and light MES come first: automatic downtime logging that keeps own stops and blocked time apart, and OEE live by line and shift.

• The operator confirms the reason in one tap, so tape out and tape not cut get different codes.
• A camera clip as evidence for a stop, where a camera watches the flap folding or the tape heads.
• Losses priced in money and ranked, so local stops and stops that reach the filler are not priced the same.
• One view across plants for end of line machines on different sites.

You start with a pilot on one line, with a baseline and a decision date agreed in advance. There is no free plan and there are no tiers: each plant gets a quote. Read how a light MES starts on one line in our light MES guide.

Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate case sealer OEE?

Availability is run time over planned production time, Performance is cases sealed over what it could seal at rated speed, and Quality is cases sealed right first time over cases sealed. Multiply the three.

What causes case sealer stops?

Tape running out or not cutting, flaps that catch or do not fold, overfilled or out of square cases from the case packer, and blocked time from the palletizer.

Is a tape change downtime?

If the line stops for it, yes. Code it as a supply stop, and prepare the spare roll so the change takes seconds.

Should blocked time count against the case sealer?

Show it in the full view, but charge it to the palletizer or whichever machine downstream stopped first.

Does a case sealer stop cost line output?

Only when it lasts longer than the buffers between the sealer and the filler. Most sealer stops are shorter.

See your end of line in a demo

Bring one line and its current downtime log. We will show the sealer's own stops, its blocked time and what reached the filler.

Request a demo · Contact us