PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2016

LABELLING 29 PET planet insider Vol. 17 No. 07+08/16 www.petpla.net Three Soluta labellers installed Recently Gernep installed three Soluta machineries at Hela Gewürzwerk Hermann Laue GmbH in Ahrensburg, Germany. Gernep provided Hela with a full sales and commissioning service, from bottle conveyancing right up to the filler. Thanks to the close cooperation between Hela and Gernep engineers, the line start-up was rapid and problem-free. Internationally-known brand Hela is famous for its best-selling spicy ketchup. Fo r t he na t i ona l and international market 28 million units per year are produced. In Germany Hela is the market leader in this segment. Hitherto, printed plastic bottles were used by the manufacturer in Ahrensburg, but this incurs high warehousing costs due to the variety of bottles used for the differ- ent products. There were also high material costs because of the print pro- cess used by the bottle maker. This prompted the company to switch to blank bottles which would then be labelled during the produc- tion process. to the production hall in Barbing, Hela ordered three machines in June 2015. These machines were delivered on the 15 th of October 2015 and gradually installed and commissioned by the 3 rd of November 2015. A Gernep engi- neer then remained for a further week to ensure the machines were correctly levelled and to provide on-site training for the Hela operators. Alexander Stag felt very comfort- able with the way the project was han- dled. Minor difficulties and problems were quickly and efficiently resolved by the Gernep engineers. Production process Empty bottles are orientated for labelling by a mechanical process controlled by a cam. Transparent plastic wrap-around labels were used. Two adhesive stations on each machine ensure that operations are not interrupted whilst the empty label roll is exchanged. The switchover process is fully automatic. The rota- tion of the bottle plate is controlled by servo drive, for which Gernep is well-known. In the frame of the label- lers there is a high definition camera integrated to check the quality of the wrap-around labels. Any faulty bottles are ejected at the machine outlet. From the Soluta machine the labelled bottles are transported to the filler. When different bottle formats are required, Hela will be supported by a technician on site. In addition the Soluta machine is connected to a remote maintenance and control system which is controlled by Gernep to provide direct support. Space-saving The round design of the machine table is comfortable for the opera- tor. It not only saves space, but it is also easier for the operator because the self-adhesive stations can be removed completely. www.hela.eu Out of five competitors, the Barbing-based specialist manufacturer of labelling machinery was selected. Hela ordered three Soluta 12-784 2SK SD machines for the ketchup production line. All the machines have the same design and are capable of handling formats from 300 to 800 ml. Capacity ranges from 7,000, 10,000, or 12,000 bph depending on product type. Project timeline Alexander Stab, Techni- cal project manager at Hela takes up the story: “We were introduced to Gernep by an independent machin- ery salesman. We opted for Gernep machinery because of the excellent customer service offered by the German machine manufacturer.” After a test phase, including a visit Alexander Stab, Technical Project Manager at Hela: “We opted for Gernep machinery because of the excellent customer special services offered by the German machine manufacturer.”