PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2013

TRADE SHOW REVIEW 66 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 10/13 www.petpla.net As sharp as a knife British company Secomak, which is headquartered to the north-west of London, launched its latest development at drinktec 2013. Its Powerstrip air knife drying system has been designed to operate in the latest high-speed production lines. Secomak says that its latest drying solutions reduce downtime, cut costs and optimise efficiency. In PET bottle configuration, it can process between 12 and 60,000bph. Its configurations include date coding, labelling, cap inspec- tion, camera orientation and complex bottle shapes, and the makers assert that it is designed to be fitted over a clients’ own conveyor. The Powerstrip is a modular system that is claimed to eliminate issues related to excess surface water such as rusty crown caps, label adhesion or alignment fail- ures and illegible date codes. Access is by gullwing doors, which are designed to save space. Acoustic packs are sup- plied as standard. The machine, which is manufactured from high-grade stainless steel, contains dispersed water and directs it to ground level via an integral drip tray and drain, which also serves to isolate and protect the blower, which is available in four, eight and 15kW configurations. Secomak says that ongoing support, provided throughout the equip- ment’s lifecycle, includes performance optimisation and can also monitor the parent system and flag up preventive main- tenance issues before they become critical. www.secomak.com Packers ITW Global Packaging Solutions chose drinktec 2013 to demonstrate the extent and reach of its product portfolio and range of brands. The group includes a number of well-known suppliers of production equipment, packaging materials, sys- tems integration and warehouse automation. ITW has acquired companies in Spain, Germany, Brazil and the United States in recent years and many of them have, individually, attended drinktec in the past. This year marked the first time that ITW physically located its major suppliers to the beverage industry in one stand. The exhibit featured working demonstrations including ITW Warehouse Automation’s Storfast cart-based AS/RS system; a pouch packer from the Meurer Gruppe of Ger- many, announced as ITW’s most recent acquisition in June this year; a functioning “Dynac-centric” line design loop from Hart- ness; and stretch film from Mima and Haloila. ITW now has a presence in 58 countries and employs around 60,000 people. www.itwpackagingsolutions.com Fruits of union Gebo Cermex launched Evo- Flex palletiser. Conveying and line engineering specialist Gebo merged with overwrapping and end-of-line company Cermex in early 2013 and presented the new product launch from Gebo Cermex at drinktec 2013. The EvoFlex high-speed palletising range is claimed to be flexible enough to any and all types of products and secondary packag- ing. It features a single-column design, double lifting unit and floor level infeed and the company says that it is the fastest palletising system in its category. It is capable of processing up to twelve layers per minute and is the first in a new range of end-of-line solutions. Gebo Cermex says that the system is designed to enable one person to operate and control the entire end-of-line area. The sin- gle-column arrangement enables the machines to switch between different product and packaging formats in under 1min and with no manual adjustment. The company says that this minimises changeover time and line downtime. Gebo Cermex asserts that EvoFlex has the functionality of robotic systems with reduced total cost of ownership, including operational and maintenance costs and reduced energy consumption because of servomotor technology. www.gebocermex.com