PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2014

PRODUCTS 51 PET planet insider Vol. 15 No. 10/14 www.petpla.net Precise inspection for a good coffee It was developed in 1986 and for years only used in gastronomy. In the last few years it has become a global trend that gains more and more fans: the coffee pod. Since 2007, the global sales growth of the pods has expanded by more than 20% annually. The Swiss company Nestlé alone has sold about 8 billion pods worldwide in 2013, thanks to its affiliated company and leading brand Nespresso. While Nespresso is still considered as the biggest player, many competitors have entered the market and gained ground during the last few years, especially in the lower price segment. The pods are usually made from aluminium, PET and other plastic materials. This makes an efficient quality control inevitable. Due to its specific function, the coffee pods feature an extremely complex design. A special challenge is to reproduce the fine structures with thin flow channels inside the pods. A trouble-free function- ing is crucial for moistening, infusing and rinsing the coffee inside and to produce the quality and taste expected by the customer. However some of these flow channels may be locked by malfunctions during the plastic moulding process like under- or over-filling. To avoid delivering products of low quality, vision inspec- tion systems by Intravis have proven to be helpful being included in the quality control. The German producer has gathered much experience in inspecting coffee pods over many years and for different worldwide operating custom- ers. A close and detailed vision inspection guarantees flawless end products. www.intravis.de