PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2016

INSPECTION 24 PET planet insider Vol. 17 No. 03/16 www.petpla.net Tour Sponsors: Detecting and eliminating faults MHI instead of HMI by Waldemar Schmitke I NSPECT I ON S P E C I A L February 26, 2015 We met: Carl J. Bonnan, General Manager, Heuft USA We are visiting Heuft USA, Inc., in Downers Grove, Illi- nois, a subsidiary of Heuft Systemtechnik Germany, where we meet General Manager Carl J. Bonnan. Heuft Systemtechnik GmbH is a private company with headquarters in Burgbrohl, Germany, which develops and builds inspection systems for use in Quality Assurance in beverages, food and pharma-oriented produc- tion applications. Here quality control and inspection activities relate to the product and its packaging. Alongside the automated solutions for the quality inspection of empty as well as filled containers, the company’s product portfolio also comprises high perfor- mance labelling machines, transport, sorting and discharge systems offer- ing gentle container handling, together with modifications aimed at increasing line efficiency. Also used are image processing methods for empty bottle inspection, x-ray systems for inspect- ing filled products, labelling technol- ogy and tools for transport optimisa- tion and line analysis. The company, established in 1979, employs approxi- mately 700 people in Germany (fig- ures for 2014), 20% of whom work in the R&D sector. Production and R&D activities are handled exclusively in Germany. Sales and Service are distributed worldwide on a decentral- ised basis, encompassing 14 com- panies abroad as well as agencies. Altogether Heuft employs more than 1,000 people worldwide. Heuft USA The USA branch here in Down- ers Grove is responsible for Sales and Service in the USA. Accord- ing to Carl J. Bonnan, who has been here since the branch was established in 1988, a number of employees work here in Downers Grove permanently whilst others are spread across the State. “Our market was initially made up chiefly of high speed inspection lines for soft drinks and beer. Today we are able to look back on having achieved a significant expansion of our field of business to incorporate inline inspection systems for be- verages, food, household, personal care and pharmaceuticals products.” Future plans include a consid- erable expansion of the markets in North America for non-beverage applications. As regards the pack- aging mix (glass, cans and other plastics), PET has a share of approximately 50%, primarily in the beverages sector. However, accord- ing to Carl J., there is a trend among the craft brewers to drop glass bot- tles in favour of cans as they grow. The proportion in Canada is already 50%. In the PET sector, Heuft inline inspection systems are predomi- nantly used in conjunction with the blow moulding and filling lines. Based on performance and inspec- tion criteria, the modules are selected and assembled from the plethora of inspection machines featured in the range. The biggest line in the USA has a capacity of 150,000 cans per hour. Quality assurance and inspection in the PET sector Empty bottles or containers  Base and outlet inspection  Container dimensions  Thread inspection  Identification of pollution or damage  Identification of inclusions (e.g. black spot)  Colour tinting Carl J. Bonnan, General Manager, against the background of a PET bottle inspection machine in the showroom at Downers Grove, Illinois.