PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2017

INSPECTION 45 PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 09/17 www.petpla.net We do more. Bottling on demand drinktec 2017 Munich, 11 – 15 September Hall B6 Agr Process Pilot systems are an important component to control the production of the very challenging wasp-waist feature of the bottle. “The sensors measure bottle thickness over practically its entire body. As a result, we get a model of a perfectly dimensioned bottle in terms of mate- rial distribution in specific parts of the bottle. Correct thickness distribution for the wasp-waist bottle depends on whether we stick to that model. While setting up a job in the system, we saved a perfect thickness distribution model, which is a best fit for our purposes. Now we only need to reproduce it with the Pilot system in place” com- ments Mr Banaśkiewicz. This is done automatically with the Process Pilot system. The material distribution model is saved with the blowmoulder recipe for the specific bottle. Once the model is defined on the Agr system, the material distribution is automatically maintained according to the model. When the Agr systems were installed at the Cisow- ianka production facility, the height of the bottle was also reduced by 5mm along with the bottle weight. As Mr Banaśkiewicz recalls, it posed quite a challenge: “It was a brand new product for us – a new bottle design, a new blow-moulding machine, and a new preform. And the Agr Pilot system helped us optimise the bottle and its thickness based on continuous moni- toring, segment by segment. Otherwise, we would be forced to rely on traditional cross-section measurements that are labor intensive and require considerable trial and error, a very time consuming process. Now, with Agr equip- ment in place, we can control thickness distribution in a continuous manner, on two blow-moulding machines; as a result, we are able to blow a lighter preform into a container with a more uniform thickness distribution. Production of the Wasp bottle at this weight is very difficult without the Pro- cess Pilot.” Vision inspection to manage preform defects Compounding the challenges of light weighting with the wasp-waist bottle were on-going preform qual- ity issues. All of the preforms used in this plant are purchased from outside sources bringing additional quality and production issues. One of the prob- lems they faced was the presence of sealing surface defects that resulted in product leakage that compromised quality and the customer experience. This was another important jus- tification for the purchase of the Agr system. In addition to material distri- bution management, the system also incorporated cameras to inspect the preform sealing surface for scratches and damage that may compromise the seal. With the seal inspection in place on the 2 KHS lines, the company was able to eliminate the downstream problem by identifying the defective preforms and rejecting them before they were processed further.