SIG Beverages
Press release sig-cp125-e
Value added bottling for the juice industry
With their know-how and their range of stretch blow molding, barrier coating and aseptic
filling machines, the companies of the SIG Beverages group (SIG Corpoplast, SIG
Plasmax, SIG Asbofill) offer a complete "Value Added Bottling" package that brings
quantifiable benefits, especially for the manufacturers of sensitive beverages.
Added Value no. I
Bottles & Shapes
Bottles & Shapes summarizes the 30 years of PET experience and the wide range of
products available at SIG Corpoplast. As a solution provider for all issues surrounding
PET packaging, the Hamburg-based company offers its customers comprehensive advice
and support of the highest standards. The "Bottles & Shapes" concept covers the entire
chain of expertise from the initial design and marketing idea for a new container through
to the industrial production of the new bottle at the lowest possible weight, combining
sound knowledge about contents, CAD and FEM supported development of the bottle
design, preform selection, blow mold construction as well as consulting on downstream
design and equipment into an integrated approach.
Marketing, design
While development used to be a process dominated by engineering, we are experiencing
today a much earlier involvement of the marketing department when it comes to the
creation of a new bottle. Also the designers at SIG Corpoplast come in at an early stage,
contributing 3D models to assist in the decision-making process, thus saving time and
money in re-development. As a consequence, the customer's marketing department can
present realistic proposals to its board at a much earlier point in time. "We are
experiencing a new dimension in product development which we can perfectly support
with our own know-how", says Frank Haesendonckx, Head of the SIG Corpoplast
Technology Center. "There are also a number of other aspects to consider. Think for
example of new types of beverages such as mixed drinks or 'young' drinks or issues
surrounding container sizes and size families. All of these are marketing aspects that
have an influence on the product development."
Light Weighting
Light Weighting makes the "Bottles & Shapes" expertise visible, touchable and
measurable. Light Weighting means striking the right balance between what is technically
feasible and what is practically reasonable. Modern PET bottles that can be produced in
a cost-efficient way must be light and still offer excellent stability. This calls for minimized
material input, optimum design of preform, bottle and mold, reduced heating energy and
blow air consumption, blow air recycling and trials with new materials. And all of this must
be achieved in a stable, repeatable process operating at maximum efficiency. For the
bottle producers, this translates into direct savings. "We have just set a new world record
in Light Weighting with 12g for a 0.5 liter bottle and >15kg top load. Now, if you operate a
BLOMAX 10 Series III at an annual output of 78 million bottles, reducing the weight of a
PET bottle by a single gram will reduce costs by €80,000 per year – just as a result of
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material savings", explains Frank Haesendonckx who also points out that only mechanical
stretching makes is possible to push weight optimization to these limits.
Time-to-market
Also when it comes to the increasingly important issue of the time-to-market for new
products, customers profit from the "Bottles & Shapes" know-how. From the development
phase and the construction of the mold through to the optimization of the production
machine and the process parameters for the industrial production, SIG Corpoplast has
systematically improved all steps and stages of the process.
An example from the design phase is the production of tangible 3D models made of
plaster within 3-4 hours or acrylic within one day. This way, several variants may be
evaluated on the model while the customer is still there. Otto Krumeich, Head of Service
at SIG Corpoplast notes: "It has turned out that more and more customers are using the
shoulder of the bottle for textures, designs or logos." Extremely flexible working times at
the Essen-based SIG Moldtec permit the production of complete mold sets within 6-10
days, supported by the efficient communication channels between SIG Corpoplast and
SIG Moldtec. Also the delivery time for the machines has been shortened: Stretch blow
molders based on an efficient modular platform can nowadays be delivered within 6-8
weeks.
Internationally, short times-to-market are also made possible through the cooperation of
the SIG Corpoplast Technology Center in Hamburg, or in similar centers e.g. in São
Paulo. These Technology Centers have CAD systems, laboratory machines and
complete testing laboratories at their disposal to examine sample bottles from mold trials.
In some cases also pilot molds can be constructed. For the customers, these short lines
of communication and the 24 hour availability of the SIG Corpoplast experts are reflected
in significantly shorter times-to-market.
The stretch blow molding machines of the BLOMAX Series III
Once the intense "Bottles & Shapes" consultancy is completed and the optimum bottle
parameters have been identified, SIG Corpoplast makes a major contribution in the "value
added" chain with its modular and highly standardized BLOMAX stretch blow molders.
Characterized by extremely compact blowing stations, circulating mandrels, minimized
heating energy and blowing air consumption, mechanical stretching, in-built quality
assurance systems and very high availability, these machines permit a cost-efficient highspeed production of up to 43,200 PET containers per hour at the lowest cost per bottle.
Added value no. II
Barrier - PLASMAX - PET with a touch of glass
With all its advantages, a standard PET bottle has one major drawback: For sensitive
products, its normal barrier properties are not sufficient. Gases such as oxygen (O 2) and
carbon dioxide (CO2) are able to penetrate the microstructure of the bottle wall. In juices,
for example, vitamins, taste and color are impaired significantly during storage which
leads to reduced shelf life. The main effect on carbonated beverages, especially in small
bottles, is that they lose their characteristic "fizz".
Both the consumers and, in many ways also the bottling industry, would profit from the
perfect barrier solution. Following a detailed analysis of the market requirements for
barriers, SIG opted for a technology based on plasma coating of the PET bottle interior
with a glass (SiOx) layer.
This process, called PLASMAX, was developed by SIG Plasmax GmbH in Hamburg, and
is ideal for industrial application:
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PET bottles with the PLASMAX coating are completely transparent, truly crystalclear. This not only allows for a perfect presentation of the product but also fully
supports design and marketing aspects.
The inert glass coating is suitable for foodstuffs, absolutely safe, and has no
influence on the product.
The inner coating of the bottle prevents all contact between the product and the
PET, thus avoiding a change in taste due to flavor transfer.
Optimum quality of the beverages is retained and the shelf life is significantly
extended.
The proven and certified 100% bottle-to-bottle recyclability protects the
environment and reduces costs.
"Implemented properly, the PLASMAX technology offers enormous benefits at prices that
will be acceptable in the marketplace", says Promeet Nag, Head of Marketing at SIG
Plasmax and SIG Asbofill.
Added value no. III
Aseptic filling - a Cost-efficient concept for inline filling of plastic bottles
Today’s food and beverage processing industries require flexible filling solutions for their
expanded range of microbiological sensitive, non-carbonated liquid products such as
juices.
The ABF fillers of SIG Asbofill GmbH (Neuss) embody the ultimate concept for a reliable
and flexible filling of plastic bottles of all kinds.
As the bottles are handled at the neck, no article specific parts are required if you change
over to another bottle shape or volume (from 250ml to 2000ml). This independence of
filling volumes and bottle shape offers a maximum of flexibility and speed for production
planning. Conversion to another bottle is often just a matter of minutes so that the bottler
can quickly and efficiently respond to changing market requirements.
The linear fillers of the ABF 610 and ABF 710 types are designed for the aseptic filling of a
wide range of products and plastic bottles, independent of the pH value, and achieve an
output of 12,000 bottles per hour.
The heart of the surprisingly small machine (62m² vs. comparable rotary machine) is the
compact, integrated aseptic zone which eliminates the need for conventional clean room
conditions. This not only maximizes the safety of the aseptic filling process, it also lowers
the capital spending and the operating costs. The magnetic inductive filling station allows
a maximum of adjustment options for all liquid contents. The non-touch filling further
increases the aseptic integrity. Before leaving the aseptic zone the bottles are either
sealed with peel-off aluminum foil tabs or sterilized screw caps. The entire system is
characterized by fully automatic CIP-SIP processes.
One of the most significant advantages of the ABF concept is its effective and safe
sterilization of bottles of all types of material.
Instead of the conventional wet sterilization, the innovative ABF concept uses heated
sterile air with an H2O2 aerosol, which provides a high level of production safety especially
for sensitive and high-value products. This optimized system also excels by its
remarkably low consumption of sterilant resulting in very low operating costs.
The ABF fillers have already been tried and tested for a wide range of sensitive and/or
advanced products, from branded juices and liquid dairy products to probiotic drinks and
nutraceuticals. These machines give customers the flexibility they require to respond
quickly to emerging trends among consumers and changing market demands.
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Total value added
One-stop shopping
With their "Bottles & Shapes" consulting expertise based on 30 years of experience in
PET packaging, which covers the entire process from the initial idea to the industrially
produced bottle on their BLOMAX stretch blow molders and molds, with their glass barrier
coating system PLASMAX for the perfect protection for sensitive products, and with their
linear ASBOFILL fillers with their extremely compact aseptic zones, the companies of the
SIG Beverages group can offer a complete solution also including the design of the
downstream equipment. Especially for the manufacturers and bottlers of high-quality
products such as juices, this could just be the total support that one is looking for.
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© SIG Corpoplast GmbH & Co. KG 2006 – free reprint, duplicate copy requested
SIG is a global supplier of packaging material, plant systems and services for the
beverage industry and a leader in selected markets.
The SIG Beverages Division is an internationally leading manufacturer of plant systems
for the production of plastic bottles (SIG Corpoplast), cans (SIG Cantec), aseptic filling
(SIG Asbofill), plasma barrier coating (SIG Plasmax) and molds and tools (SIG Moldtec).
SIG Corpoplast is an internationally leading supplier of highly standardized and modular
designed machines for the PET industry. The machine range comprises high speed
BLOMAX Series III stretch blow molding machines from 4 to 24 blowing stations for
standard, Heat Resistant and Preferential Heating technology. With more than 30 years of
PET competence SIG Corpoplast offers complete service and the entire know-how chain
from the characteristics of the filling goods, preform, bottle and mold design over energy
saving devices to bottles with lightest possible weights.
Project related contact address (can be printed, if required)
SIG Corpoplast GmbH & Co. KG,
Meiendorfer Str. 203, 22145 Hamburg, Germany
Matthias Damm,
Tel.: +49 (0) 40 67907 350
Fax.: +49 (0) 40 67907 9350
matthias.damm@sig.biz
SIG Plasmax GmbH, SIG Asbofill GmbH
Promeet Nag
Tel.: +49 (0) 40 67907 364
Fax.: +49 (0) 40 67907 9364
promeet.nag@sig.biz
Contact address (for editorial queries or courtesy copies)
polymediaconsult
Dr. Michael Thielen
Hackesstr. 99
41066 Mönchengladbach
Tel.: +49 (2161) 664864
Fax: +49 (2161) 631045
mt@polymediaconsult.de
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