PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2020

PREFORM PRODUCTION PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 04/20 www.petpla.net 15 CSD and hotfill packaging Preform manufacturing by Michael Maruschke Chandigarh is the capital of the northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana. Due to its architecture, greenery safety and traffic management, it is widely considered the most organised and beautiful city in India. The area is well-known not only for its beauty and organisation but also for affordable utilities and governess. Tour Sponsors: F.r.t.l.: Sheilendra Kapardar, Rajesh Kumar and Michael Maruschke tion moulding machines: two 32-cavity HyPET 120 units and one 96-cavity HyPET 400. In addition to this they have ordered two 72-cavity HyPET 225 machines. Forty-five employees manipulate 13 different moulds pro- ducing preforms ranging from 23.7g to 48g for CSD and hotfill beverages. Total capacity is 30 t per day. PET raw material comes from Reli- ance and IVL Dhunseri, the two market leaders. As the company is co-located with its sole customer, transportation is not an issue. All production is carried in cardboard boxes & steel cages across to Coca-Cola’s production facilities in the area. Hindustan Closures Pvt. Ltd. May 2019 We met: Mr Sheilendra Kapardar, Plant Head & Mr Rajesh Kumar, Manager HR The factory of preform manufac- turer Hindustan Closures Pvt. Ltd. is just a 40 min drive from Chandigarh, located in the same manufacturing estate as Coca-Cola, its biggest and only customer, which has been operat- ing on the site since 1997. Hindustan Closures started preform production in 2011, with just two injection moulding machines. Today, its production floor is equipped with three Husky injec- No compromise on quality by Michael Maruschke Epitome Petropack Limited, which was founded in Kolkata, West Bengal, by former banker Sumit Poddar in 2011, was established from outset to produce preforms for water, CSD and hotfill for supply to Coca-Cola and Pepsi. It began operations with four Husky machines: two H-PET AE (All-Electric) 230 t units and two HPP 4.0 225 t. A HyPET (AE) 225 has recently been added to the production floor. All the machines are equipped with 48 cavity moulds. Epitome Petropack Limited April 2019 We met: Mr Sumit Poddar, Director Mr Dheeraj Mishra, GM-Plant The company’s total production capacity is quoted to be 18,000 t/a. About 90% of the 14 g to 53 g pre- forms go directly to Pepsi and Coca- Cola, locally in Bengal and also to the North and West. The remaining preforms are supplied to other local bottlers. Raw material is supplied by Reliance and IVL Dhunseri, which have proved themselves to be reli- able in quality and consistency. Some material is also imported from China. Every production step documented Appointment to the position of approved supplier to Coca-Cola or Pepsi inevitably mean regular, unan- nounced visits from these custom- ers. Sumit explains in detail all the necessary documents, records and quality protocols that have to be in place. “Every production step is documented,” he said. “There can be no compromise on quality.” Every step in production and quality con- trol is documented even beyond the normal standard. As the factory runs at full capacity, 24/7, regular preven- tive maintenance has to be carried out during operation. PET price helps to enter new applications Sumit estimates that growth in use of PET in India averages about 10%, with Eastern India showing higher rates: about 15%. He has seen new preform manufacturing, companies emerge and then vanish, pretty much every year. In general, he considers PET techni- cally as a premium product with special properties. In contrast with a few years ago, the price of PET is now similar to HDPE. This development has helped PET to gain a foothold in a range of bottle-related applications. www.epitomepetropack.com F.r.t.l.: Sumit Poddar, Dheeraj Mishra and Michael Maruschke