Haremar bags new opportunities with investment

Anchored by a recent $3 million equipment investment, Haremar Plastic Manufacturing Ltd., of Toronto is expanding the boundaries of its film extrusion capability.

In a move designed to streamline production of two-flap and four-flap garbage bags, the family-owned mono and co-extruded film supplier has added three high-speed, state-of-the-art winders and four high-speed die cutters to its 139,000-square foot manufacturing facility. According to company vice president Mark Lichtblau, the result has transformed Haremar into a leading manufacturer of die-cut bags. “Traditionally, bag manufacturers have been forced to configure their die-cutters in such a manner that only allows for the conversion of either two- or four-flap bags on their production lines, and were committed to that process; position ‘A’ would only make four flaps, while position ‘B’ would only make two flaps,” said Mark Lichtblau, Haremar’s vice president. “The industry wants both two- and four-flap bags, and we’ve found a flexible method for making both.”   

Another fruit of Haremar’s investment is the production of a four-flap, die-cut bag with embossing, interleaved on a coreless winding roll. “The big challenge of this application was the integration of the components,” Lichtblau said. “The embossing is relatively easy, but to incorporate a sine wave cut and the interleaving demands a superior overall process for the line. We’ve made it work for us, and have already shipped our first order of the embossed bags.” Why embossing? “It’s another step towards product differentiation, which is important to all of our customers.”    

The die-cutters are proving crucial for making inroads into these new markets. “The ability to adjust the profile on the die-cutter is critical, and we can do it for a relatively low costand in only 48 hours,” Lichtblau said. “In the past, processors have paid tens of thousands of dollars for the dies, and were still limited on the die profile.” 

Finally, Haremar is in the process of installing a new three-layer blown film line from nearby equipment manufacturer Brampton Engineering, which integrates Brampton’s new in-house-developed internal bubble cooling system. “We plan to combine this new film line with the latest die technology and recycled resins to develop an efficient, high output blend for garbage bags,” Lichtblau said. “More and more of our customers want post-consumer recycled material, and we’ll shortly have a line set up to optimize blends according to their needs.”   

In the end, Haremar’s sizeable investment is based around the old Field of Dreams adage: If you build it, they will come. “Most retailers don’t want to buy into a supplier’s dream; they want to see the machinery on the floor before making a purchase decision,” Lichtblau said. “We’re signaling that Haremar is ready to offer new products to our customers.”