Heather Miller
In our disposable society, plastic packaging is everywhere you look. But Pulpex is tackling this reality head on by rethinking packaging altogether. Their revolutionary fiber-based products put sustainability first. Now, they’re delivering an innovative new option: a paper bottle.
Based in Sawston, Cambridgeshire, Pulpex knew they needed more than a supplier for this ambitious project. They wanted a partner embedded in the work and found it with RoboChallenge.
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Finding the right engineering partner
RoboChallenge is well known in the UK for dramatic engineering projects on TV shows and more. But its core business is solving real-world design and manufacturing challenges. For Pulpex, they were presented with the paper bottle idea to refine the design and build a variety of machines to manufacture it.
“To make a paper bottle, there are so many challenges involved and why it’s such a difficult thing to do,” says Grant Cooper, co-founder, RoboChallenge. “Pulpex has been a really interesting journey because we’ve gone from small scale R&D machines…to then scaling that up to commercial equipment.”
Designing together in Fusion
With Autodesk Fusion, Pulpex and RoboChallenge could make a sustainable paper bottle a reality. Fusion became the shared environment where ideas could take shape and evolve.
“Pulpex came to us with a very core concept of what they wanted to achieve, and we could gradually build that up, adding the layers through CAD design, simulation, and design validation,” says James Cooper, co-founder, RoboChallenge.
Collaboration and accessibility are key with their R&D and design process. With Fusion, RoboChallenge ensures customers, including Pulpex, are there every step of the way.
“By using the Fusion online viewer, clients can explore assemblies and understand the design intent,” James says. “By seeing it in that manner, they can really understand and be on the same wavelength as us.”
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From R&D to commercial scale
Scaling up is often where innovative ideas break down, but Pulpex’s early design decisions held firm. “Our very first R&D machine for thermoforming and mold in this bottle is almost exactly the same as what they’re now running on the production line at commercial scale,” Grant says.
That consistency matters when machines grow to extreme levels of complexity. Fusion helps manage that complexity while maintaining confidence that everything will fit and function as intended.
“For the latest machines we’ve been developing for Pulpex, there are thousands of parts in a single machine,” Grant says.
Tool libraries and machine tool simulation ensure the design team has everything in line before it goes to manufacturing for validation. Thanks to Fusion, speed and workflow improvements have also increased dramatically.
“With the workflow in Fusion and the Manufacturing Extension, we can have it designed, and CAM programmed,” Grant says. “We can have it inspected on the machine, which saves us sending it out to get it done. And that saves us days and days of time by combining all of that into a single workflow so we can have that part manufactured and shipped within days.”
Engineering with purpose
At the end of the day, sustainability is the end goal. And both Pulpex and RoboChallenge share a long-term perspective on impact.
“This relationship and everything we’re doing together is to solve that problem,” says Scott Winston, MD, Pulpex. “It’s a very lofty goal to make sure that you are starting to have a positive impact on the world’s pollution problem. But that’s what this whole partnership and journey enables is the change to start to happen.”