PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2017

BOTTLING / FILLING PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 06/17 www.petpla.net 33 Gebo Cermex upgrades Carola line in three weeks Great volumes to tight deadlines Mineral water producer Carola’s production line is now packaging its product in a new, lighter PET bottle, increas- ing output speeds by 3,000 containers per hour after a line upgrade by Gebo Cermex. Installation and ramp-up to full speed production was achieved in less than three weeks. Carola is one of the largest min- eral water producers in France. Fol- lowing the buy-out of the company by Spadel, the group focused on the bottling and marketing of natural mineral waters and a varied range of refreshing drinks. As part of its investment strategy, the Carola PET line facility in Ribeauvillé, Alsace, France, was the subject of a complete overhaul. The ageing line was caus- ing problems because of restricted flexibility, restricted accumulation capacity, reduced speed due to the limitations of certain machines within the line, and poor working conditions. The line’s performance was prevent- ing Carola from keeping pace with the fast-changing beverage market and fluctuations in consumer demand. The company was also eager to minimise bottle weight and to switch to more modern packaging formats. The strat- egy included a plan for the reduction of production costs. Renewed partnership built on proven experience Carola selected Gebo Cermex, part of the Sidel Group, to undertake the modernisation work, following the suc- cess of a returnable glass line project it previously executed at the plant. Thierry Klein, Director of Production Maintenance at Carola-Ribeauvillé, said that the company had been especially impressed with its expertise in line auto- mation and project management. The project at the Carola-Ribeau- villé factory covered the whole pro- duction process, from bottle convey- ors right through to the palletiser and presented the team in Gebo Cermex with several other challenges. The customer was seeking to upgrade the line without taking up any more room in a facility where floorspace was already at a premium. Everything had to be changed without creating a supply problem for the client. All the equipment had to be replaced and the entire line brought back into operation at full speed, in all formats, in no more than 21 days. Meeting targets, surpassing expectations José Lefort, Industrial Manager at Carola-Ribeauvillé said that the project had more than lived up to expecta- tions. The new line has increased output rates by 3,000 bottles per hour for all packs. This increased productiv- ity means that Carola can now produce greater volumes to tighter deadlines, enabling the company to respond to spikes in demand while reducing the stock managed for this purpose by an external storage provider. “Increasing output speeds by around 3,000 bottles per hour for all formats has allowed us to switch to two, eight-hour shifts, with barely any production now taking place at night,” José Lefort says. Customer supply uninterrupted The dismantling of the existing line and the assembly of the new equip- ment, which was the most crucial element of the project, took place well within schedule. The restart was suc- cessful across all formats, which now includes packs of 6, 8 and 24 bot- tles. Production was quickly ramped up; within a month the whole line was running at 75% of maximum capacity. All the machines and conveyors were reinstalled as close as possible to the ground, making them directly acces- sible and eliminating previous need to climb up on walkways. Line control is one of the major strengths of the new system, especially the advanced man- agement of stoppages and restarts on the conveyors and the accumulation tables between the machines. Format changeovers on the new line are also much more efficient. The successful completion of the project has enabled Carola to intro- duce a new, lighter bottle design, as Lefort explains. “All the new bottles are perfectly stable on the conveyors. That meant that we were able to deliver our cli- ents’ orders without interruption, while offering them new packaging options.” www.gebocermex.com www.carola.fr Pack conveyors Palletiser with robotic layer prepatation