PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2018

PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 05/18 www.petpla.net 65 TRADE SHOW REVIEW 65 TRADE SHOW REVIEW the longest possible use-by dates,” declared Müller. In a second pro- duction step, the previously injected blank is coated with a 1.4mm-thick, pure white outer skin. The colour is produced through the addition of the white pigment titanium dioxide. In contrast to single layer bottles, this process allows the volume of titanium dioxide to be consequently reduced from at least 10% to only 3% of the entire weight. “The market price for titanium dioxide is between seven and eight euros per kilogram. As such, the annual savings potential is consider- able,” said Müller. Not least due to ecological aspects, the contemporary PET milk bottle also has the potential to force the outdated HDPE bottle out of the market in the long-term, states Nets-tal. PET raw material is around 30% less expensive than HDPE. This savings effect is under- pinned by the fact that with Prelactia and its thin walls, bottles are around 20-30% lighter. “In contrast to an extrusion-blown process, no appreci- able material loss occurs during the injection moulding process. Water and energy consumption is signicantly reduced.” explained Müller. As a result of the injection moulding process the thread is precisely dened, allowing the bottle to be reliably sealed with a screw cap even after opening multiple times. Any additional sealing with alu- minium foil is superuous. “In point of fact the question of recycling coloured PET has not yet been fully addressed in many countries despite the increas- ing market shares. However, as one of the largest European countries, France has proved that the collection, separation and recycling of coloured PET milk bottles is indeed possible,” emphasised Müller. Customers in French supermarkets have been able to buy milk in lightweight Prelactia PET bottles throughout the country for a number of years. Cloud-based injection moulding “Industry 4.0 is a key theme for our Chinese customers. Under the term Plastics 4.0, Netstal develops innovative digital solutions with which our customers are able to achieve further increases in efciency in their production processes,” stated Müller. At the Chinaplas, the Swiss company were showcasing its new analysis app AnalytiX in Asia for the rst time. This cloud-based production moni- toring allows users to keep track of their key machine parameters online, anytime, anywhere. “Our customers benet from automatic process and machine status analyses. This con- sequently saves a signicant amount of time and increases employee ef- ciency,” explained Müller. Supported by intelligent stability and productivity ratios, the user can identify individual machine trends or performance deviations at a glance. Data stored in Switzerland The important subject of data security is a priority at Netstal. All information is hosted in the secure Netstal cloud in Switzerland and is not accessible to third parties. User management and the grant- ing of access rights are controlled entirely by the customer. A crucial prerequisite for the utilisation of AnalytiX is that injection moulding machines are equipped with the ‘iOT Ready Package’. The pack- age comprises the NRS Connect module (Netstal Remote Sup- port) and Euromap 15 interface. A machine’s connection to the Inter- net is facilitated either via cable (LAN) or wireless (WIFI, 4G). The basic version of AnalytiX itself is available free of charge as an app for iOS or Android. Fee-based subscriptions allow the functional scope to be exibly adapted to meet specic requirements. www.netstal.com [email protected] Tel: +90 212 695 50 00 Fax: +90 212 694 97 24 100815dmyR .com AnalytiX enables Netstal users to monitor their key injection moulding data, anytime, anywhere.