PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2015

LABELLING 38 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 11/15 www.petpla.net LABELLING 38 Smooth labelling operation A project for the General Soft Drinks Co, ltd. (GSD) of Malta, the country’s sole licensed bottler of Coca- Cola products, has demonstrated the capacity to add new technology to an existing line with minimum dis- ruption following the installation of a new Sidel Roll- quattro rollfed labeller. Within the local bottled water market Malta effectively competes with neighbouring Italy, a country with an annual bottled water per capita con- sumption of 176 litres. Water volume sales for the whole of Italy, one of the largest producers of bottled water in the world, totalled 11 billion litres in 2014 according to reports by market analyst Euromonitor. Italians and Maltese generally treat mineral water as an everyday drink, rather than a luxury item. However, the number of competing brands inevitably results in a fiercely tough marketplace where the price is driven low and great profit- ability is difficult to achieve. GSD is consequently run on measurable per- formance indicators that are regularly monitored to ensure every aspect of production is kept competitive and profitable. This naturally includes the performance of any labelling equipment involved in the process. GSD first started working with Sidel in 2002 when it purchased its first Sidel line to produce water in both glass and PET bottles. In 2007 a second line was added, this time devoted to only the PET bottling of carbonated soft drinks in a new modern plant and the old line relo- cated. Both the original lines were moved and subsequently updated with a line conversion in 2012. The flexible line, used to produce still, sparkling and flavoured water in 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0l bottles in both glass and PET includes a single blow moulding machine with different fillers and labellers for each packaging material. The original PET labelling machine that had given seven years of efficient and reliable service on the line was a Sidel Rollquattro labeller. Following the evaluation of the options, this was replaced by the new Sidel Rollquattro