PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2019

BOTTLING / FILLING PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 03/19 www.petpla.net 11 20 years of stretch-blowing and filler technology in PETplanet Insider Dear friends of PETplanet, I would like to give you my sub- jective summary of the last 20 years of two-stage SBM and filling. I’ve been working on this for a long time because my thoughts have digressed so many times. The many people we have got to know throughout our 20-year journey, the interviews, the site visits, the travelling. For me, it’s been 20 years full of emotions. In this overview, I have tried to sketch out the history of the main protagonists, the companies and the technology. Corpoplast has always been a tower of strength. Sold many times (Krupp, SIG, KHS) and even more frequently trying to integrate, the company has continually developed and under today’s KHS umbrella, it is enjoying what may be its golden era. Which brings us to the just as chequered history of KHS. A continually chang- ing CEO - I won’t bore you with all their names - bankruptcy of the parent company WCM and now finally, structured expansion under Salzgitter. Things were not always so change- able at KHS and this was shown in our interview in 2010 with Maternus Gemmel, who retired as CSO after 48 years in the company. Two further old hands that must get a mention here are Gianfranco Zoppas, owner of Sipa and, of course, Volker Kronseder of Krones. Both have promoted and supported the development of PET drinks technol- ogy with clear vision. Over 20 years ago, Volker Kronseder recognised that stretch blowing belonged in filling and he has continually driven for- ward his own Contiform development. The first facilities may have raised a smile but today they are among the market leaders. Gianfranco Zoppas is a technological visionary. Regard- less of what had gone before, he has always addressed the question of what the market needs. In Top Talk Filling Special 2005, he was still convinced that single-stage was the right way to go but in a 2018 interview, he reinforced the 2-stage procedure. But what does he have in mind? The blocked Xtreme from granulate to finished bottle all at one heat. But isn’t that the signature feature of the 1-stage process? So Zoppas statement in 2005 has proven to be well-founded, although in quite a different way than first thought. Enjoy the overview. Perhaps you’ll be mentioned somewhere too. Yours Alexander Büchler