PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2020

BOTTLING / FILLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 07+08/20 www.petpla.net 46 There is a place in Amazonia... In the city of Leticia, the most southern in Colombia, in the area of “Tres Forest”, surrounded by the undisputed force of luxurious nature and where the intense green of the jungle, populated by sloths, parrots, monkeys and many other species of animals is interrupted for a brief spell to give home to Gaseosas Leticia S.A., the smallest bottling plant within the Coca-Cola Company circuit. It is a bottling plant with great strategic importance for Amazonia, the heart of the jungle; it generates work for over 500 people directly and indirectly and in five years, has seen an annual growth of between 8% and 11%. The Colombian company, which, currently has four bottling lines, decided to automate the production of Coca-Cola bottles in PET and there- fore, installed a new ultra-compact rotary stretch-blow moulder from the SMI EBS K Ergon range. “Gaseosas Leticia – as confirmed by the company CEO Mr Hauptman Puentes – began its activity 50 years ago with just six employees and a small production of 25 cans of soft drinks per day (around 625 cans per month), while today they sell 2,000 per day (50,000 cans per month). Over the years, the company has evolved constantly, and if we consider the last five years, the annual growth has fluctuated between 8% and 11%”. The Gaseosas Leticia S.A. plant is situated in a strategic point, from where it is possible to distribute the production of its soft drinks all over the Colombian Amazonia. The Colom- bian company also produces bever- ages such as flavoured water, carbon- ated water, fruit juices with guarana, grapes, oranges, citrus, lemons, etc. Through this latest investment, Gase- osas Leticia aims to widen its produc- tion capacity by bottling soft drinks. The EBS 4 K Ergon stretch-blow moulder produces 0.5l and 2l bot- tles in PET, with a maximum speed of 8,800bph (0.5l containers). Inspired by the principles of industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT) it satisfied the requests in terms of productivity, opera- tion flexability, energy savings, simple management and monitoring of the entire bottling line. The stretch-blowing system is equipped with motorised stretch rods (commonly used for high speed production) controlled by elec- tronic movements. This solution guaran- tees precise cycle of the stretch rods. The ultra-compact structure results from one single structure which groups the section that heats the preforms with the one which stretch-blows. The production process is com- pletely electronic, with brushless motor transmission and equipped with an integrated servo driver. There is a reduced blower energy consumption, thanks to the preform heating module. This is equipped with IR lamps, and to the stretch-blowing module equipped with dual air recovery system that allows the reduction of energy costs tied to the production of high pressure compressed air. The stretch-blowing system has high performance valves with low deadvolume, which reduce the length of time for pre-blowing and blowing. It is ensuring greater machine output and a higher qual- ity of bottles produced. The machine geared to be placed in the Ecobloc version together with filler and a capper. The soft drink market in Colombia Data from statistics from the second quarter of 2018 elaborated by the main international financial institu- tions, that consider the GDP and the sensibility of consumer purchase, have shown that the Colombian econ- omy performed well. The soft drink industry was one of the most dynamic sectors, with the companies who are part of the Coca-Cola group in the lead for volume of sales. In answer to the request in growth, The Coca- Cola Company recently strengthened its investments in production plants in Colombia, with the aim to reinforce and increase its share in this region’s market and produce more efficiently, using less energy and less water during all the bottling and packaging process. www.smigroup.it The Gaseosas Leticia S.A. workforce in its plant which is situated in a strategic point from where it is possible to distribute the production of its soft drinks all over the Colombian Amazonia. The SMI EBS 4K during processing