PETpla.net Insider 11+12 / 2017

TRADE SHOW REVIEW PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 11+12/17 www.petpla.net 46 The big Xs of Sipa at the Drinktec 2017 in Munich Towards a sustainable, daily production process L to R: Roberta Gulatieri, Marketing Manager Sipa, Alexander Büchler, PETplanet, Martina Bottarel, Communication Management Sipa, Enrico Gribaudo, General Manager Sipa and Heike Fischer, PETplanet, in front of the Xtra stretch-blow system On the Sipa booth, the spe- cialist in PET processing tech- nology, the new generation of the Xtra stretch-blow system, the Xtreme Renew and the Xform were presented. In addition, the new Flextronic, a modular platform of volumet- ric fillers, was shown. The new Xtra is capable of pro- ducing 2,550bpc. This is the result of an R&D process putting particular emphasis on kinematics and mechani- cal movements. Such a high figure enables the number of blow moulds to be reduced for any given total output requirement, accelerating changeover times and lowering investment costs. The process angle on the new Xtra is 200 degrees- such a wide process angle makes it possible to apply high pressure air for up to 0.8s, enabling production of containers, even the most complex ones, with extreme accuracy. Xtra can produce bottles from 0.2 up to 3.5l in volume and also accommodate different neck sizes (28/38 mm). The clamp stroke has two settings: short, to produce bottles of up to 1.5l at a maxi- mum speed of 2,550bhc; and long, for containers up to 3l and an output of up to 2,400bhc. This mechanical flexibility is complemented by the ability of the machine to produce hot- and cold-fill containers, without any changes to the system. It is combinable with other machines upstream and downstream. It can for example be directly con- nected to a filler to create a standard system for production and filling of PET containers; equally, it can be integrated with Sipa’s Xtreme rotary injection- compression platform for preform production. Finally, Xtra can interface with Xtreme Renew, which produces preforms directly from recycled bottles, Xtreme Renew Sincro. With a live video demonstration, visitors were invited to participate at the production of a fully sustainable PET bottle-to-bottle production, fit for the circular economy. This process is possible with Xtreme Renew from Erema and Sipa. Together, the two companies have created an integrated system that uses up to 100% recy- cled post-consumer PET to produce preforms with properties on a par with those made from virgin polymer. The new Xform 350, a preform injection moulding platform, now sits alongside its well-established bigger brother, the Xform 500. Both are built on the same platform, but as the num- bers make clear, the Xform 350 has a smaller clamp unit, with a clamp force of 3,500kN rather than 5,000kN. It has been optimised to accept moulds with between 72 and 128 cavities. Just like the Xform 500 though, the new Xform 350 has a low cost of maintenance, and accepts all legacy moulds, as well as legacy end-of-arm tooling (EOAT) for preform handling. The toggles on the Xform 350 are powered by servo- electric motors. This makes it fast as well as highly energy-efficient. Lock-to- lock time is below 2.4s. Flextronic is the new name of the new modular platform of volumetric fillers. New filling valves in EVO ver- sions have been integrated and are interchangeable on this platform. By taking full advantage of the modular design and by combining suitable fill- ing valves, solutions can be designed to meet the diverse requirements in the bottling world. One of the key guidelines in designing the Flextronic platform was the ability to fill multiple products on the same line. www.sipa.com