INSPECTION 16 PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 09/23 www.petpla.net Agr’s Gawis 4D - a winning solution for Sipa Laboratory throughput – the name of the game! Sipa S.P.A., with headquarters in Vittorio Veneto, Italy, is well known in the plastics industry for its expertise in producing a range of high-end PET preform and container moulding systems. Being one of the few companies that has experience with both preforms and containers, they are uniquely positioned to offer a one-stop experience for a complete production line - from resin to finished product, including preform manufacturing, bottle and mould design and production, filling, capping and palletising. Regardless of the product supplied, quality has the highest priority, and the Sipa design, testing and qualification Laboratory managed by Roberto De Luca is tasked with ensuring that every product manufactured is to specification and meets Sipa’s strict standards. That means that every product, large or small, must be measured and tested before going out the door. And with the number of products Sipa produces, this can be a daunting task. To meet the increased demand for quality assurance measurement in the lab, Sipa recently added the Gawis 4D from Agr International, a high precision dimensional and thickness measurement system for bottles and preforms. “In the lab, we perform tests of samples from all moulds and machines to verify that they can produce finished product in compliance with customer or Sipa specifications. This includes the testing of 100% of injection, blowing and one-stage machines and moulds on delivery,” explained Mr De Luca. Keep in mind that Sipa is the second largest supplier worldwide in both preform and container moulds with state-of-the-art tooling facilities. Therefore, when it comes to testing and mould qualification, the numbers are significant. This is an important part of the business, and the testing of these moulds is a key aspect. This is where the Gawis 4D comes in. The number of cavitation on a preform mould has increased from 96 being standard to 144 to 180 and now 200 cavities in a mould set. This means more samples to test. According to De Luca, when they qualify a mould, before shipping to the customer, samples from every cavity must be measured to verify that they meet specifications including body dimensions, thread attributes for proper closure fit, perpendicularity and thickness. With the expanded number of cavities, this has dramatically increased the testing load on the lab. The Gawis 4D was purchased to help meet this increased demand. The speed of tests on the Gawis 4D system, leading to reduced cycle time, was a principal factor in the decision to add the 4D to the Sipa lab. Another “winning feature is the combination of dimensional and thickness measurement at the same time – this is important to reduce cycle time. And, of course, the accuracy of the system as well,” claimed De Luca. The fact that the Gawis 4D can measure both preforms and containers is very important. “One week we are focused on testing bottles and next week it is mainly preforms. If we had an instrument that only did one or the other, it would sit idle part of the time. With the Gawis 4D, its capability is used 100% bringing good value to our operation.” The time factors Measuring a preform by hand can take several minutes, while the Gawis 4D can perform the measurements in less than one minute. When qualifying a mould with 180 preforms, the time savings is significant, as much as 30% or more. Even if it only takes one minute longer by hand, this is 180 minutes, or 3 hours more to qualify a mould set. Also, one needs to consider the variations in measurement attributed to the technician, and of course, the time to document the data. With the Gawis 4D, measurements are performed on every container or preform, exactly the same, avoiding any type of discrepancies due to human error, all in a fraction of the time. When thousands of measurements have to be performed, this is important, and the time saving is considerable. Another reason for selecting the Gawis 4D is its ability to efficiently perform thickness measurements even of small preforms and containers. As De The Sipa Design, Testing and Qualification Laboratory relies on a number of Agr quality management products in the daily operations.
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