PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2017

BOTTLING / FILLING PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 10/17 www.petpla.net 30 Trials and storage tests Obviously, Eckes-Granin cannot and does not want to take any risks. “Before changing over our top hohes C and Granini products from glass bottles to PET in 2003 we ran countless series of trials and storage tests, to ensure that our products are perfectly protected,” Naumann says. It was also extremely important for the established market that the glass bottle designs consumers were familiar with were retained. With hohes C, this was chiefly the bottle’s brown colour; with Granini it was the container’s charac- teristic “flower vase” pineapple shape. At that time Eckes-Granini opted for the first aseptic filling lines from the Dortmund systems supplier; more soon followed. In 2006 and 2010 Eckes- Granini added the first KHS Plasmax coating machines to its aseptic lines. PET bottles now account for about 75% of the group’s packaging assort- ment, with the percentage of Plasmax- coated bottles rising year by year. “It’s of huge benefit to our partner- ship that we’re only 100km apart,” says Kempa. “It’s important that we’re able to meet at short notice, espe- cially with an innovative partner such as Eckes-Granini, in order to clarify any unresolved points in direct talks.” There were ultimately many challenges to master in the development of the process, from reducing changeover times through boosting productivity to optimising energy efficiency. “We also benefit from what we’ve learned. Our intensive partnership has helped us to optimise our innovative processes in practice and come up with totally new solutions.” This is also much appreci- ated by the customer. “KHS reacted to our suggestions and requests for change with great speed and flexibility,” says Naumann. He sees the companies’ joint endeav- ours as a continuing process. “The challenge for both KHS and us here at the plant in Bad Fallingbostel is to efficiently realise the great complexity of our packaging portfolio, caused by the vast variety of bottles with different sized necks, in the minimum change- over time.” This includes aspects such as shortening startup and shutdown times, achieving a higher performance and efficiency and ensuring minimum loss rates during the coating process. Five facts - Eckes-Granini When? Founded in Nieder-Olm, Germany, by Peter Eckes in 1857; takeover of Granini and withdrawal from the spirits business in 1994 What? Fruit juices and fruit soft drinks In which containers? PET bottles, Tetrapak, glass bottles, bag-in-box and cans How much? Around 822 million liters per year To which regions? 31 European countries and 80 countries worldwide Hermann Naumann, plant manager at Bad Fallingbostel, Eckes-Granini The embossing on Granini’s PET soda pop bottle – still in the stretch blow mould here – is reminiscent of the Granini bobble bottle. Eckes-Granini is so enthused by the advantages of Plasmax coating that the main branch in Nieder-Olm is consider- ing how to communicate these to the consumer, over and above a mention in the company’s sustainability report. This is a notion Bernd-Thomas Kempa from KHS understands and welcomes. “The consumer is happy to accept the benefits of PET – its low weight and unbreakability – yet still has mis- givings in conjunction with the plastic, even if, objectively speaking, there’s no reason. Providing information on the barrier between the beverage and the PET material can definitely give the customer an extra sense of security, and possibly even make them aware that this special form of protection may be worth paying for, along the lines of ‘do something good and talk about it’.” www.khs.com www.eckes-granini.com