PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2018

MOULD MAKING PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 10/18 www.petpla.net 19 Cap-mould design Integrating cap-mould design with machine development, as well as consultancy offers big advantages in terms of a longer mould lifespan. Final performance is guaranteed thanks to the careful selection of materials and linings and the mechanical precision of components. “We should bear in mind that the cost of raw materials accounts for 50 to 70% of all finished closure costs. That’s why the development of lighter caps and preforms, together with guaranteed process repeatability makes all the difference, both with custom- ers who operate directly on consumer markets and those companies which, in turn, have to supply large beverage groups according to well-defined design specifications”. Davide Penazzi, who is responsible for closure moulds as well as IPS (injec- tion preform system) preform moulds explains, “Generally having in-depth experience with closures ensures we are well recognised and respected with converters. Even in the most com- petitive markets, customers will tend to evaluate solutions offered by Sacmi as we have a reputation as a reliable partner, from project to product and after-sales service”. The machine size has shifted towards 72 and 96-cavity solutions, with parallel development of the Sacmi range in terms of both machines (IPS 400) and the relative moulds. “Increas- ing the number of cavities per machine”, illustrates Penazzi, has brought sig- nificant economic savings”. Sacmi has achieved this by decisively developing their processes (i.e. through automatic preform handling to reduce the risk of deformation, contamination or break- age as well as the capacity to ‘go light weight’ by proposing integrated cap- preform solutions). For some time now, Sacmi has invested in new plant engineering to make a progressive reduction in medium sizes (with the dual-cavity SBF stretch-blower range). It has done so by simultaneously improving the mould concept as well as the process to guar- antee a more assured finished product performance (in the plant, during trans- port, on shelves, in storage). “The blown bottle”, explains Lorenzo Casadio, technical manager of Sacmi Beverage, “is a delicate, complex product in which the most important competitive factor is the capacity to provide the customer with a complete service, from bottle design (and, conse- quently, mould design) to guaranteed technical performance of the product in terms of resistance to impact, falls and temperature variation etc.” Sacmi also engages in numerical simulation that uses finite element analysis techniques: “These techniques”, states Casadio, “make it possible to simulate product performance without costly lab testing and provide solid guarantees on the subsequent industrialisation phase.” With regards to the required technologi- cal characteristics of the mould, Sacmi has designed and patented a system that lets manufacturers blow bottles at low pressure. It provides system air- energy savings and it downsizes the line compressor. “A third, often forgotten advantage, is longer-lasting mechanical machine and mould components as the lower pressure means they are subject to less stress”, observes Lorenzo Casadio. The challenge being faced by stretch-blowing – similarly to devel- opments taking place in the closures field – consists of the shorter on-shelf life-cycle of the bottle and ever-greater demand for weight reduction. “That’s why” concludes Casadio, “the Sacmi solution focuses on reducing line set-up times and numerical simulation techniques. Having a set of machine- moulds with automatically set recipes at your disposal makes start-ups much faster. A complete solutions provider is able to govern all these aspects much more accurately. And that’s the approach we want to take: to extend our current range to include production areas and formats that go beyond those where Sacmi already enjoys outstand- ing market recognition”. www.sacmi.it Oct. 24-26,2018, Mumbai Hall 1, Booth K35 German Technology Moulds for the CCM Sacmi machinery