PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2015

PACKING / PALLETISING 29 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 12/15 www.petpla.net David Feber emphasises with a smile. Feber spoke about the Manchester pilot plant, “We have a variety of injection and blow moulding machinery for the manufacture of sample bottles and pre- forms to assist with customer requests.” “The capacities are designed for a maximum of 100,000 preforms/bottles per sample,” he went on, “It is then that the relevant characteristics tests in our labs commence. We can simulate field conditions to ensure our customers’ needs for labelling, closures and filling are met even before the bottles are introduced into the market.” One specific example of a develop- ment project of this nature is the con- version of a glass jar for pasta sauces. Reasons for replacing the glass packaging with PET are essentially weight and to safeguard against break- age. Prior to implementation, however, compliance with specific criteria is essential. These are:  Hot-fillable  Shelf life options  Wide neck container with easy-open rotary closure  Improved grip for customer  Generates a “POP“ sound when opened. A sign of freshness for the consumer. The outcome, Amcor’s Apex63, is a lightweight PET wide neck container with a metal closure. An indicator button takes care of the “POP” sound and enables easy opening of the clo- sure. The container design improves container handling, even with wet hands. The container is hot-fillable up to a temperature of 205 degrees Fahr- enheit and shelf life can be improved by means of plasma coating. The filling operation continues to be carried out on the existing filler and capper with only very slight modifications. LiquiForm Ann O’Hara, President of LiquiForm, joined the conversation to discuss Amcor’s joint venture with Sidel: “Part of our joint venture with Sidel is the development of single step blow & fill technology. Instead of stretch blow moulding a preform into a bottle using compressed air, the preform is formed with the liquid product itself. The stretch blow moulding stage with air is com- pletely omitted. A big advantage here is the generation of energy savings in excess of 50% compared to com- pressed air. Another big advantage this produces is logistics as there is no longer any need to transport empty bot- tles, just preforms.” One of the six laboratory machines in the market is installed here in Man- chester, an additional one is in the vicinity for more advanced develop- ment including larger plastic bottles. There are other laboratory machines at Sidel, at Nestle and in Yoshino, Japan. We witnessed a demonstration of the blow/fill machine. The demonstration machine used is a specially modified older Series 1 Sidel sbm machine with two of the old eight moulding/filling sta- tions using liquid not compressed air. The demonstration we saw was:  0.5 litre PET bottle  Still water, heated  Preform geometry designed for stretch blow moulding  Preform temperature and pressure similar to typical air blow applications  Fill time less than 0.5 seconds According to Ann O’Hara, there may be some minor adaptations to pre- form geometry for the blow/fill pro- cess in the future, dependent on the application. She explained: “As far as this technology is concerned, we are still in the early days and are aware that we still have some way to go in terms of optimisa- tion work, e.g. in the case of cold drinks. It is important for us to have succeeded in demonstrating that this technology works. Our aim is to have a commercial machine system on the market for non- food applications within a couple of years. Our market strategy consists of granting licences for this technology, e. g. Michael Hodges, Director, Communica- tions and Public Relations We’ve got our sights set on expanding our horizons. For that we have a new identity and new strategy for growth. As UNITED CAPS, we’re extending our global footprint to meet your needs wherever U are. We’re also expanding our innovation capabilities and getting even closer to customers. Need performant and reliable plastic caps and closures? U need UNITED CAPS! PROCAP IS NOW UNITED CAPS! ©2015 UNITED CAPS group. All rights reserved. www.unitedcaps.com to machine manufacturers and working with end users to help them understand the technology and its advantages.” A highly informative day draws to an end and we express our appreciation for the opportunity to hold wide-ranging talks with the entire team. Our discus- sions have enabled us to understand something of what activated collabo- rative teamwork actually implies. We thank everyone involved. www.amcor.com www.liquiformgroup.com