At the Cutting Edge of Beverage Filling - Verpackungs-Rundschau

At the Cutting Edge 

of Beverage Filling 

R 

� 

B E V E R A G E 

P A C K A G I N G 

48. JAHRGANG / D 6935

Page 26 

Combining the advantages of the traditional laminated cardboard container 

and the PET bottle 

COVER STORY 

At the Cutting Edge of Beverage Packaging – 

Crown Simplimatic Relishing New Independence 4-5 

DESIGN 

Style Comes to the Plastic Bottle – Three Italian 

Designers Give Mineral Water Bottles a New Look 8-10 

BEER 

Brewery Offers Contract Bottling – Marston Brewery 

Enters Contract Bottling in a Big Way 11-12 

Getting a Grip on Multipacks – Convenience 

Packaging Carries the Day for Danish Brewery 13-14 

Robot Technology Booms – Krones Bottling 

Machinery in the Brazilian Rain Forest 15-16 

SOFT DRINKS 

Full to Capacity – Coca-Cola Shenmei-Shanghai 17-18 

Flexible Soft Drink Pack 19 

GLASS/PET 

Chopping and Changing – 

Glass and PET Bottles on the Same Line? 20-21 

New RefPET Plant in the Czech Republic – 

PLM Expanding to the East and West 24-25 

BEVERAGE PACKAGING CONTENTS 

CANS 

Curvy Can to Boost Sales – 

Coca-Cola Making the Most of the Real Thing 24-25 

CARTONS 

A Bottle Made of Cardboard – 

A New Container From Italpak 26 

LABELLING 

No-Label Look a Clear Winner 27-28 

Marketing Label Papers 29 

BITS & PIECES 

Bottles and Bottle Handling 30 

READER ENQUIRY SERVICE 

COVER PHOTO 

Crown Simplimatic MPV filler for PET bottles provides improved fill volume 

accuracy and ease of operation. The company has recently established itself 

as an independent corporation, following a management buy-out from 

Crown Cork & Seal and is investing heavily in technological innovation 

31 

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COVER STORY 

At the Cutting Edge 

of Beverage Filling 

US Packaging Machinery Business Relishing New Independence 

Designed to provide improved fill volume accuracy and ease of operation – the MPV filler for 

PET bottles 

Crown-Simplimatic, the US-based 

packaging machinery business, was 

bought from Crown Cork & Seal, Philadelphia, 

in the spring of 1997. Headed 

by three former company executives 

from the packaging machinery division 

of the Crown Cork & Seal, the newlyindependent 

corporation was bought 

for US$ 105 million and has estimated 

annual sales of US$ 200 million. Areas 

of business are beverage filling lines, 

packaging equipment and material 

handling systems, including associated 

control systems. Nine plants are in 

operation in Europe and the Americas, 

employing a workforce of about 1000. 

Jerry L.East,B.Douglas Goodell and James 

W. Parker are the new managing 

directors of the enterprise. Jerry East, 

who is responsible for the filler business 

world-wide, commented , “As an independent 

company, we can focus all of our efforts 

on supplying the machinery and sys- 

The Can Jet Air Conveyor 

tems engineering needs of our customers 

today and on developing the technology 

and equipment that they will need tomorrow.” 

To support this strategy,investments 

are planned in the research and development 

facilities in Europe and the US and 

growth through acquisition is also being 

considered.“Our principal acquisition targets 

today are strong companies in labelling, 

inspection equipment or multi-packing 

machinery,” said James W. Parker, head 

of conveyor, handling systems business 

and corporate finance administration. 

Crown Simplimatic is focusing on the 

expansion of business in the growing markets 

of Europe, Latin America and the 

Asia-Pacific Region whilst also maintaining 

and building on its strength in North 

America. 

Innovative Design 

An ability to come up with innovative ways 

of conveying beverage containers is seen 

as the company’s greatest asset. Recent 

innovations from the enterprise are 

tailored to the exacting requirements of 

hi-tech and high-speed production and 

include the Isometric and Ring Jet Con- 

4 VR Beverage Packaging 1997

Plastic bottles are moved safely and efficiently on high-speed lines with the Ring Jet conveyor 

veyors and the Multi-Purpose Volumetric 

Filling Systems. 

The Isometric Air Conveyor (IAC) was 

designed to control high-speed movement 

of empty cans. The line includes 

a new self-clearing turn,which is designed 

to ease the movement of packages 

through 90 (turns without hanging up on 

deadplates. Unlike traditional air conveyor 

deckplates,where all thrusters in the 

perforated deckplate are pointed in the 

direction of can travel, the IAC has airflow 

both with and against the direction of can 

The Isometric Air Conveyor can handle gently 

production rates of up to 4 000 cans per minute 

travel. Some thrusters direct air downstream 

and other upstream. The downstream 

flow is marginally stronger. By 

carefully balancing these opposing flows, 

the IAC does not allow the net airflow to 

accelerate excessively as the can travels. 

As a result, airflow and, therefore, can velocity 

of both straight-walled and shaped 

cans is tightly controlled along the entire 

length of the conveyor. Up to 4000 cans 

per minute can be handled with no damage 

in this manner. 

Gentle and Efficient 

Main reasons behind the development of 

the Ring Jet conveyor were the new shapes 

and the light weight of plastic bottles, 

which can weigh less than 28 grams. The 

conveyor gently moves shaped or straightwalled 

plastic bottles on high-speed lines 

by blowing air under the neck rings of the 

bottles. This action lifts the bottles slightly 

off the conveyor’s neck guide and floats 

them as they speed down a beverage production 

line from the depalletiser to the 

filler. 

The Multi-Purpose Volumetric (MPV) 

filler has been designed to precisely fill a 

variety of beverages, including cargonated 

soft drinks, hot-fill products, water, juices 

and beer in PET bottles. It has improved 

fill volume accuracy and provides for auto- 

COVER STORY 

B. Douglas Goodell 

Jerry L. East 

James W. Parker 

mated volume adjustment to facilitate 

changing to different bottle sizes. Reductions 

in changeover times are reported by 

the company to be as much as 75 per cent. 

Commenting on the new MPV, Douglas 

Goodell said, “This innovative filler provides 

a significant technological leap for 

our industry and will demonstrate our 

commitment to developing easy-to-use, 

cost-effective, low-maintenance equipment 

with excellent performance.” 

Further new concepts from Crown for 

cost-effective machines have been developed 

and are, “close to introduction”. BH 

VR Beverage Packaging 1997 5

DESIGN 

Style Comes to the 

Plastic Bottle 

Three young Italian designer-architects 

Luca Casini, Stefano Laforgia 

and Francesca Lavagna have redesigned 

the plastic bottle. They have remodelled 

it to fit the requirements of the 

consumer without losing sight of the limitations 

imposed by production. During 

the analysis of plastic mineral water packaging, 

they came across problems that 

had yet to be solved. At least up to now. 

Over the last few years more and more 

emphasis has been placed on the expressive 

and communicative role of packaging, 

something that has at times contrasted 

with the understandable need to reduce 

production costs. 

This trend has recently been confirmed 

in the plastic bottle for mineral water, given 

the need to highlight all the features 

of a substance that has no smell, colour or 

taste, that has allowed the container by 

its very definition to become the “vehicle” 

of the product image. 

Large glass – tear and stack 

A monomaterial, one-litre container in 

heatformed PET or PP with a film of the 

same material glued across the top, offering 

a cheap and effective way of ensuring 

reclosability. To enable easy stacking of 

empties, the closing film can be torn away 

allowing for a rational and easy disposal 

Cut and stack Minimising gaps 

of empties in the home.Given the reduced 

size of the opening, the horizontal cross 

section has been redesigned to facilitate 

pouring whilst the body of the container 

has been modelled to improve gripping 

and resistance to side and axial pressure. 

When stored, the glasses are placed on 

top of each other and set out side-by-side 

each alternate glass being placed upsidedown, 

the bases fitting against the 

mouths; the glasses stack easily. 

Roll-up – reducing the size of the 

empties 

Devised as an alternative to the vertical 

crushing of bottles which involves a 

number of problems. “Roll-up” proposes 

side-crushing of containers by rolling 

them up from the base, which because of 

its thickness, can also be used as a lever. 

An eco-compatible plastic strip with a low 

melt flow rate, wraps and fixes the body 

that has been folded back on itself. The 

tab stretches down from the collar,located 

at the base of the bottle top created by a 

side fixture on the mould. The edge of the 

strip has a ruckled surface to make gripping 

easier and to help fix it to the upper 

slotted hole. The tab is glued to the body 

of the bottle under the traditional paper 

label and is torn off as soon as the strip 

is lifted for waste separation after use. The 

Wearable water container 

system can be applied easily to most 

bottles used in the trade. 

Cut and stack – effective home stockage 

of empties 

This system has been devised studying 

the angles of the walls of the bottle to allow 

the stacking of the parts obtained by 

cutting the empty bottles close to the 

point of maximum cross diameter as 

marked on the container.One can leave an 

edge joining the two separated parts of 

the container, pushing down one of the 

two parts 180°, this can then be stacked 

with other bottles cut and bent over in the 

same way. We have provided small, lowcost 

tools and information for simplifying 

cutting operations as well as special 

A bottle crushed by steam 


A seal with a difference 

stacking devices for piling up the empties 

in the home. These are capable of holding 

a large number of bottles in a small space; 

they are made of recycled plastics or from 

virgin polymer, such as coloured transparent 

polypropylene. 

Squeeze it hot – smaller through steam 

“Squeeze It Hot” has been based on the 

method for crumpling bottles adopted in 

bars and cafés, where a dispensing spout, 

inserted in the bottle softens and permanently 

crumples up the plastic container. 

This system can be aodpted for the home 

using the increasingly widespread home 

coffee making machines. The only drawback 

of the system is the risk of scalding 

owing to the high temperature of the 

bottle, effectively preventing crushing of 

the bottle by hand. Two plastic elements 

have been provided to protect the hands 

at the moment of crumpling, along with a 

special solution for the drainage of hot 

water and insulation of the bottle. 

Savespace – minimum bulk of the full 

container 

A project was aimed at increasing the ratio 

between bottle capacity and bulk when 

stored away and stacked with others – to 

optimize stockage and transport.The coefficient 

reached was 0.888 against the 0.65 

of bottles currently in production. The secret 

lies in the neck of the bottle that fits 

into a recess in the base of a bottle of the 

same design; in order not to hamper 

stackability the bottle has been given a 

stubby neck that also facilitates pouring, 

while reducing the material stress in the 

blowing phase. The 2 l container has a 

transversal rectangular cross-section in a 

size offering good exploitation of space on 

a standard 80 ´ 120 cm pallet. The smaller 

radius, seen in the corners of the body of 

the bottle, could be increased in the event 

of the need for a lighter bottle to increase 

shock and fall resistance.The original shape 

of the container as well as its modular 

surface design has led to numerous possible 

ideas of reuse of empties in the home 

where glasses can be added at the top to 

complete the compositions. 

Babybottle – water for baby wherever 

you need it 

This packaging item, aimed at the market 

for baby-products, is a response to the re- 

DESIGN 

Numerous possibilities for re-use 

cent trend in the market aimed at creating 

new niches of consumption. The idea of 

simplifying the administering of mineral 

water and other possible baby foods away 

from home has led us to devise a container 

capable of replacing the traditional 

baby bottle that can be bought at any 

supermarket. A sucker- top, the same size 

as any teat, that is easy to insert after the 

removal of the closure element, enables 

the reclosability of the container ensuring 

a certain sterility of the contents. The 

bottle has a special ergonomic design to 

facilitate consumption by infants; additional 

ribbings enhance top load resistance. 

Baby bottle A perfect fit An ideal travel companion 


Tear and stack 

DESIGN 

Travel bottle – handy for trips 

A 50 cl “travel” bottle with a shape that 

allows it to be easily inserted and transported 

inside a bag or pocket without risk 

of deformation, filling the functional gap 

of the current containers of the same shape 

devised for the same purpose. To improve 

its stability Travel Bottle can be 

placed horizontally on the supporting surface; 

this is why the bottle has a series of 

ridges on its side that also help increase 

resistance. 

A water bottle-type top as in the most 

recent proposals presented on the American 

market guarantees maximum functionality 

during consumption. 

Easy stacking 

Flexsport – water to wear 

This project was created to offer sport enthusiasts 

a comfortable, flexible, disposable 

container for mineral water that can 

be “worn” during work-outs.The container, 

made from heatformed film that is subsequently 

sealed, is transparent and fitted 

with a reclosable doser-dispenser. Polyethylene, 

polypropylene – to increase the 

barrier properties – and polypropylene 

and EVOH polylaminate film can be used; 

the icons in relief are photoengraved in 

the moulding phase. 

Export- Horeca – the shape 

Some proposals aimed at specific targets 

where shape, appeal and ergonomics are 

the key features. The bottles has no ridging 

given that the material is used in 

greater thickness than other containers on 

the market and the sinuous shape of the 

container evokes the concept of water as 

an element. In other examples emphasis 

has been laid on the design of the surface 

texture, adding only simple ergonomic 

modifications to the section of the traditional 

bottle. The idea of adopting metal 

crown caps for catering where reclosability 

of the bottles is not necessary is also 

being considered. 

On-line pack – the handiest load 

The common layout of bottle packs in two 

parallel lines of three units placed sideby-side 

puts a lot of strain on the arm and 

shoulder muscles, while the pack interferes 

with leg movement when walking . 

On-line pack offers an alternative solution 

with the blistering of bottles placed horizontally 

on top of each other lying parallel 

to the ground with a handle at the top. 

Building blocks 

Space saver 

The arm used to carry it extends along the 

body in a natural position, thus strain is 

considerbly reduced. A further advantage 

is that you do not have to stoop to lift the 

pack when it is set out vertically. 

A five unit pack is suggested even if the 

system would be equally effective with six 

bottles, in this case reaching a maximum 

height of 48 cm and therefore easily transportable 

by someone who is 1.55 m tall. 

The conformation just described though 

offers limited stability of the pack on pallets 

or on salespoint shelves; here low 

cost joins can be adopted for joining the 

packs side-by-side.like cardboard and collar 

tabs. ❐ 

Excepts from an article which first appeared in issue 3/97 of 

“Italia Imballagio” 

Shape, appeal, ergonomics 


Brewery Offers Contract 

Bottling 

Marston Brewery Enters Contract Bottling Market in a Big Way 

The Bottling 2000 project was 

launched by brewers Marston, 

Thompson & Evershed plc,Burtonon-Trent, 

UK, back in 1992. The company, 

famous for producing a selection of excellent 

traditional English beers, decided to 

look at the best way of moving into the 

next millennium. 

Marston’s decided they should invest 

in a brand new glass bottling line to cope 

with the ever growing demand for its own 

packaged products. It was also felt that if 

the investment was going to be made, the 

line should be state-of-the-art and as flexible 

as possible to enable Marstons to 

provide a contract bottling service to 

other brewers.This appeared to go against 

the trend at that time when it looked to 

many as if the can was the pack of the future 

and cans certainly were making major 

inroads, especially as far as take home 

sales were concerned. 

Growth in Premium Beers 

Although it appeared to many that bottling 

was on a plateau, Marston’s had noted 

the growing popularity of premium 

and specialist beers, including many of its 

own beers, such as Pedigree. Premium 

BEER 

beers are invariably sold in glass bottles 

to promote the quality image of the product, 

many in custom-designed bottles to 

make the products stand out on the shelf. 

Indeed, the marketing department at Marston’s 

was already considering repacking 

some of its own brands in new style 

bottles. If this trend were to continue as 

expected, many brewers could find themselves 

with a shortfall in their bottling 

capacity having invested in high-speed 

canning lines, and this is where Marston’s 

believed there was a big opportunity. 

Further research into the market convinced 

Marston’s that a flexible, high 


BEER 

speed glass bottling line was the right 

choice and the decision was made to go 

ahead with Bottling 2000. 

Since Marstons only has one production 

line, the installation had to be carried 

out in stages, enabling production to be 

maintained. The line was completed early 

in 1997 and now gives Marston the capacity 

to fill up to 42000 275 ml or 33000 500 

ml bottles an hour. It can handle many different 

bottle shapes and contract customers 

have a choice of either shrinkwrapped 

trays or wrap-around cases holding 

4 P 3 or 6 P 4 formats, and crates. 

One major advantage for Marston as far 

as its contract bottling service is concerned 

is the fact that the company has received 

approval for its filling and packaging 

operations from all the major supermarket 

chains. This means a contract customer’s 

product will be accepted by these 

outlets which at present handle over 30% 

of all bottle sales in the UK. 

Overwhelming Response 

Once the line was running Marston received 

enquires from many of its existing 

contacts, however, the real launch of the 

contract bottling service came at the BPC 

97 Exhibition held in April at the UK’s 

National Exhibition Centre. David Finch 

of Marston says the response to the official 

launch of the service exceeded all expectations. 

Many people in the brewing 

business who knew Marston, had been unaware 

of the company’s plans to enter the 

contract bottling market in a major way 

and many enquiries were received at the 

show. 

“We certainly made the right choice by 

going for a line with such a wide range 

of capabilities,” David Finch says. “We al- 

Capacity ranges from between 33000 and 42000 bottles per hour 

Marston decided to invest in a brand new bottling line 

ready have firm contracts from the likes of 

Carlsberg-Tetley,Jennings and Caledonian 

Breweries which are due to run for several 

years. We have also received many more 

enquiries for contracts of vastly different 

sizes. At present we set a lower limit of 

one tanker of product, equivalent to 

around 140 barrels. To take on smaller 

contracts would not be cost effective 

owing to downtime involved and it would 

be too disruptive to our own operations.” 

He went on to explain that the company 

felt it best for anyone considering taking 

advantage of a contract bottling service to 

involve the potential supplier of the service 

at an early stage. “It is essential we 

know from the start the result the customer 

is trying to achieve and we can advise 

on the best way of proceeding when it 

comes to ordering bottles, labels etc. and 

perhaps suggest suppliers which we know 

can produce the right quality. Ideally we 

like to source all these components ourselves 

on behalf of the customer as this 

enables us to control the quality and ensure 

they will run properly on our equipment.” 

KG 

Bottling 2000 – 

Equipment Installed at 

the Marston Brewery 

Over a Period of Three 

Years 

Kettner 2500 crate depalletiser 

Simplimatic Model 400 bulk glass 

depalletiser 

KHS Omega Kaskana bottle washer 

Euro Rinser AO3-IV bottle rinser 

Heuft Spectrum BFS 60160 empty 

bottle inspector 

KHS Rola-Tronic H1 84/18KK filler/ 

crowner 

Krones Zierk Pastana pasteuriser 

Krones Prontomatic and Solomatic 

labellers 

Domino ink jet printer 

Heuft fill height inspector 

KHS Garant recrater 

Kisters 197/40 tray loader/shrinkwrapper 

Ricart W8000 wraparound case packer 

Ricart P5600 II palletiser. 


BEER 

Getting a Grip on Multipacks 

Convenience Packaging Carries the Day for Danish Brewer 

Carlsberg/Tuborg, the leading Danish 

brewer, started using a multipack 

system from packaging 

specialist AssiDomän in 1994. Since then 

sales have increased for the company as 

retailers and consumers alike have taken 

to the new convenience packs and their attractive 

designs. 

“It was AssiDomän who took the initiative. 

They approached us with a new concept 

that fitted in very well with our strategy”, 

Torben Valsted, trade marketing 

manager for the Tuborg brand, told VR. 

This new strategy was to develop a relationship 

with the consumer who had become 

more intent upon emphasising individuality 

and much less responsive to 

mass communications. The packaging of 

the beer was targeted as the main tool to 

demonstrate the quality of the product 

within and differentiate the company from 

others, especially the private label and 

discount beers that had become extremely 

price competitive. 

AssiDomän had developed a multipackaging 

concept called the Multra Systems, 

a convenience packaging system for 

anything from 4 to 36 items (cans or 

bottles) per pack, together with its corrugated 

division, in Denmark Corrpack and 

its printing division Corrprint. Because 

Corrpack was involved, the company 

looked for a Danish partner to test the new 

concept. A prototype line was installed at 

the brewery in Copenhagen for the packaging 

of Tuborg and Carlsberg brands for 

test marketing. 

“Re-education” of the consumer took a 

while because poor handling quality of 

other multipacks meant they were wary of 

the new product. “One of the great challenges 

was to convince consumers that 

they could comfortably take the pack by 

the handle”, Ronny Roelandt, sales and 

marketing manager AssiDomän Multra 

Systems, explained. Danish consumers 

had never been confronted with this type 

of pack as they had always bought larger 

quantities in crates. A handle reinforced 

with a polyester tape and a pack design 

that channels physical force away from the 

crucial point in the packaging material 

makes the pack very easy to handle. 

Because the pack is made of corrugated 

fibre board,it is light in weight,very robust 

and functional, essential criteria for the 

brewers. 

Immediate Impact 

Multipacks are not always accepted at face 

value by consumers, who want to be sure 

of what is actually in the pack and 

often rip open the packaging at point of 

sale. Taking this into consideration, Assi- 

Domän came up with a pack that can be 

fully enclosed, but with endless variations 

and graphic possibilities, or with cut-outs 

or even windows, leaving the consumer in 

no doubt about the contents. 

An additional behaviour pattern observed 

in consumers is the fact that the 

average time spent looking at a product in 

the beer section is twelve seconds. A pack 

design must “speak” to the potential buyer 

in this short span; added value and convenience 

must be immediately obvious. 

Of the first trials, one pack was an enclosed, 

bevelled-edge 12-bottle version. 

The design was a Tuborg-green background 

and a very large reproduction of 

the word beer. It did not have quite the desired 

effect as the brewery had over-estimated 

consumer recognition of the Tuborg 

colour separated from the traditional 

logo. Nevertheless, the packs were eventually 

accepted very well by the market. 

Carlsberg/Tuborg use a AssiDomän 

multrapacker MK2 packaging line which 

can run at up to a speed of 60 Multra packs 

per minute. One of the machine’s most interesting 

features is that it does not wrap 

around the items to be packed as is 

usually done in packaging processes. Instead, 

the blanks are semi-assembled by 

pistons and dies that are fixed for that particular 

type of pack – square, round and 

chamfered corners are all possible. This 

ensures absolute accuracy in producing 

squared packs,which in turn enhances the 

The unique folding process of the Multrapackers maximises the printable surface of the pack 


BEER 

look of the design on the finished product. 

The unique folding process not only gives 

tidy closing but hides the corrugated 

structure and maximises the printable 

surface. In addition, it is the piston and 

die system that make the producion of 

round corners possible, an extremely 

important factor when looking at design 

possibilities. 

AssiDomän did not actually build 

the MK2 packer but chose the renowned 

Danish specialists Thorsted Maskiner A/S 

to work with them. Other versions of 

the multrapacker, the small and mediumsized 

lines, are built by AssiDomän’s 

own engineering company. Conveyors 

come from DAN Conveyors. “We concentrate 

on our main business which is board 

and packaging”, Ronny Roelandt said. Be- 

All-in-one 

PET Bottle Processing 

Commercial field-testing of a prototype 

packaging line from Tetra Pak, which provides 

all-in-one bottle blowing, sterilisation, 

filling and capping in one process, 

has been running since the beginning of 

May 1997 in France. Fruit-flavoured iced 

tea in 1.5 litre bottles are being made at 

the McCain plant in La Clayette, one of 

Tetra Pak’s major customers. The packaging 

line comprises a Tetra therm aseptic 

drink processing module withrelated control 

and heat exchange equipment, aTetra 

Pak dynablow DBX 6 stretch-blow-moulding 

machine, the prototype aseptic PET 

filler, bottle conveyor equipment and 

scew-cap applicator.At a press conference 

held in mid June 1997 in Geneva, Tetra Pak 

commented that the new concept would 

cause corrugated board in E-flute or Bflute 

is used for the packaging, it is very 

robust and can be stacked without the use 

of trays, saving space in the factory and at 

the point of sale – an obvious advantage 

over crates, which are dead capital. Other 

countries have stopped using crates altogether, 

for example France, and in the UK 

and the USA crates have never been used. 

Playing with the Pack 

Once the Multra pack became established, 

the partners began to experiment 

with design. “AssiDomän is very good at 

seeing potential in pack development 

and in new design ideas”, Torben Valsted 

commented. With a twelve-pack linked to 

sponsorship of theWorld Athletic Championships 

in 1995, sales of the Carlsberg 

brand shot up. A strong beer was tried in 

the Multra pack, as were other line extensions 

from Carlsberg and Tuborg and the 

packs started to sell themselves with no 

additional advertising. Pack designs include 

a game board, a pack of 11 bottles 

and a one-way camera for the summer and 

seasonal packs for Easter and Christmas 

beers. Consumers look forward to the seasonal 

packs and expect new packs designs 

from the brewery. 

Loyalty to the Brand and Not to the Deal 

“The main challenge for us is to create 

consumer loyalty”, Torben Valsted said. 

“The Multra pack gives us added value in a 

appeal to processors who use hot-fill 

lines to pack PET bottles and to those who 

use the more conventional rotary aseptic 

bottling eqiupment. 

The prototype filler has a “footprint” of 

8 ´ 3 metres and can fill 5000 bottles per 

hour. Although faster machines are available, 

the combination of cost saving, 

small area needs, and single source 

supply and support is expected to make 

the system highly competitive. It is also 

expected to attract dairy customers because 

aseptic processing is used widely 

for low acid products which are unsuitable 

for hot filling. ❐ 

Simple Cost Saver 

The UK-based companies Kensal Ltd, maker 

of stainless steel conveying systems 

and Apac Rowena Ltd, manufacturer of 

stagnant market; it is not an inexpensive 

solution but we are not very price-focused”, 

he added. Because Tuborg is defending 

the leading position on the Danish 

market, it has to constantly keep 

ahead through innovation and added value. 

Branded beers have strong competition 

from discounters in Denmark who 

only sell in crates. The value/price factor is 

of great significance so retailers and consumers 

alike must be aware of the added 

value. According to Torben Valsted, retailers 

are happy with the pack because 

they attract great customer interest. He 

went on to say that Tuborg would continue 

to use the Multra packs especially 

for promotional campaigns. 

Multra packaging systems are already 

running in a number of large breweries 

with others set to follow suit. BH 

thermoformed packaging and presentation 

systems, combined forces to develop 

a versatile bottle tray packaging, 

handling and palletising system. Recently 

launched, the system simplifies all these 

processes. The new tray is completely 

recyclable, saves space in storage and can 

be made to package and palletise many sizes 

and shapes of PET or plastic bottles for 

all types of beverages and other bottled 

products. 

For bottlers, the trays can be filled, 

palletised and stretchwrapped automatically 

by equipment provided by Kensal. 

Trials of the tray system have shown up to 

40 per cent saving in space against crates 

and up to 15 per cent against cardboard. 

Empty trays in storage take only ten per 

cent of the room required for empty 

crates. ❐ 


BEER 

Robot Technology Booms 

Krones Bottling Machinery in the Brazilian Rain Forest 

Many Brazilian beverage bottlers are 

currently investing in automation, both 

to increase productivity and to cut 

costs. Three large Brazilian beverage 

companies are in the process of installing 

new equipment from bottling and 

packaging machinery specialist Krones 

AG, Neutraubling/Germany. 

Refrigerantes Amazìnia S.A. (Grupo 

Simões ) for example has ordered 

two complete lines for PET bottles 

in just over a year. The first line was installed 

in June 1996 at Compar – Companhia 

Paraense de Refrigerantes S. A., for an 

output of 11,500 bph for 2-litre bottles. The 

second line, for 11500 bph (2 l) and 20000 

bph (0.6 l), is scheduled for commissioning 

in July 1997 at Rondònia Refrigerantes. 

Each of these two lines will incorporate 

two Krones Robogrip machines, replacing 

conventional pallet handling systems.The 

flexibility of these robots enables the 

bottler to change over quickly and easily 

to different containers by replacing the 

gripper heads. 

The programme-controlled vertical, articulated 

arm robot, Robogrip, can handle 

any kind of transfer job. With its userprogrammable 

superimposed movement 

axes it reaches every pick-up and dumping 

point. For pallet handling applications, 

the equipment can be fitted with a hookgripper 

head or suction grippers if 

required. And there are options for fully 

automatic changeover between different 

gripper,clamp or suction systems.The two 

60-valve Mecafill fillers are coupled to a 

ten-head capper. 

Renato Simões, Board Chairman of 

Grupo Simões, emphasises: “Refrigerantes 

da Amazônia’s decision to progress 

automation at these two lines is in 

keeping with our long-standing corporate 

philosophy of always being one step 

ahead of our times. With ultra-modern kit, 

we are pursuing our goal for assuring the 

performance capabilities of our production 

operations, and thus safeguarding 

our future sales.” Grupo Simões is one 

of the front-runners in the field of robot 

technology in Brazil’s soft drinks industry 

“, explains Renato Simões. 

In the Manaus area, the group achieves 

a market share of 63.4 per cent, in Belém 

61.1 per cent, and in other regions (including 

the licensees) up to 70 per cent. At the 

In less than six months, the two giant Coca-Cola bottlers, Refrigerantes Amazìnia S.A. and Refrigerantes 

Minas Gerais S.A., in the North and South-East of Brazil, have ordered six Robogrip machines 

facilities in Porto Velho (Rondônia), Cacoal 

(Rondônia), Rio Branco (Acre), Boa 

Vista (Roraima), Santarém (Pará), Marabá 

(Pará) and Macapá (Amapá), a total of 16 

bottling lines produce a total of 84 million 

crates a year. 

Surging Growth at Minas Gerais Ltda. 

Minas Gerais Ltda. in the south-eastern 

region of Minas Gerais have also opted for 

the Robogrip. As of July 1997, two of these 

machines are scheduled to be working in 

lines 1 and 3 at the Belo Horizonte Enterprise 

Zone. 

Plant manager Alfonso Martos commented, 

“By automating our pallet hand- 

ling operation,we achieve a more continuous 

production and can deliver a larger 

number of crates per working day”. 

Refrigerantes Minas Gerais, with facilities 

in Belo Horizonte, Divinópolis and 

Montes Claros, serves a market with 8 million 

consumers through an excellently 

structured distribution system. The products 

in PET and glass bottles are supplied 

to 50 sales outlets at locations covering 

the entire state. 

Kaiser Brewery Increasing Capacity 

The Kaiser Brewery ordered a complete 

canning line from Krones Brazil to increase 

capacity at their facility in Quei- 


BEER 

To meet rising demand, Kaiser has now installed a new Krones line producing 120000 cans an hour. 

Centred around a Volumetic filler, the line reached an efficiency of 90 per cent just two months after 

commissioning 

mados, Rio de Janeiro, by about 30 per 

cent, to around 500000 hl a month. In 1996 

alone, Kaiser’s sales of canned beer rose 

by approximately 20 per cent. Kaiser is 

Brazil’s third-largest brewery (November 

1996) with a share of 17.3 per cent on the 

beer market, and is the market leader in 

the states of São Paulo and Paraná. 

Crucial factors in awarding the contract 

included punctuality and efficiency: Udo 

Mário Haertel, Plant Manager in Queimados, 

stresses that the line was running 

at an efficiency of 90 per cent just two 

months after being commissioned, with 

three-shift operation and an output of 

120000 cph. Thanks to extensive automation, 

it can be handled by eight operators 

only (all of them technicians), explains 

Haertel. 

Kaiser uses the line to can five sorts of 

beer for the entire Brazilian subcontinent: 

“This is the second canning line here at 

Queimados, and the third in the Kaiser 

Group as a whole. The new line is able to 

cope with 30 per cent of our entire production 

output”, says the plant manager. In 

his opinion, non-returnable containers, 

especially cans, are on the advance in Brazil, 

with sales being substantially boosted 

by increased consumer prosperity. 

Can Deliveries Just in Time 

The canning line in Queimados is based 

on a concept totally new for the Brazilian 

beer market. The vendor supplying the 

aluminium cans, Latasa, has a storage fa- 

cility inside the canning plant, and delivers 

the cans “just in time” to the depalletiser. 

An integrated empty-can inspector 

makes sure that only faultless cans get as 

far as the filler. Latasa takes back any rejects. 

Commenting on relations with Krones, 

Mr Haertel said, “Why a Krones line? 

That’s quite simple: Krones has a production 

operation here in Brazil, and is known 

the world over as a manufacturer with unrivalled 

experience in can filling. Plus, of 

course, the good service back-up with 

maintenance support, fast delivery of 

spares, and staff training courses, which 

all pay off for us in a medium and longterm 

view”. 

A fourth complete canning line from 

Krones is scheduled for installation in 

September 1997 at the Jacareí facility, São 

Paulo, where it is confidently expected to 

reach 90 per cent efficiency within two 

months. 

The Krones canning line is part of a 

capacity expansion programme at Kaiser 

begun two years ago and budgeted at 60 

million US dollars. Kaiser owns facilities 

in Jundiaí (São Paulo - 1987), Gravataí (Rio 

Grande do Sul – 1988 ) and Feira de Santana 

(Bahia – 1994). In October 1995, the 

seventh facility started operations in Araraquara 

– São Paulo, while the eighth was 

inaugurated at Ponta Grossa, Paraná, in 

March 1997. There are ongoing plans for 

more production facilities in Anápolis 

(Goias) and Pacatuba (Ceará), and in Pernambuco 

State. ❐ 

Smooth Operator 

A total of nine Genesis pallet wrappers 

from Robopac Sistemi, Verucchio/Italy, 

have now been installed in the factory 

of Corona beer producer Cerveceria 

Modelo, Mexico City. These pallet 

wrappers are designed to offer an extremely 

low level of routine maintenance, 

owing to the elimination of most wearing 

parts.Brush contacts,which are subject to 

wear or sudden interruptions, have been 

replaced by a rotating arm. The machines 

also incorporate an electronic film prestretcher 

which generates all the electrical 

power it requires by itself, offering advantages 

in safety and maintenance. New 

customers for the Genesis pallet wrapper 

include Guinness and San Pellegrino. ❐ 

New PEN Range from Shell 

Shell Chemicals Europe has developed a 

PEN range of products called HiPERTUF 

for hot-fill beverage applications. Key 

market for the range is beer as the material 

is capable of withstanding the high 

processing temperatures associated with 

bottle washing and pasteurisation of 

beer. Shell is undertaking a number of 

HiPERTUF development programmes 

with leading packaging companies and 

some of the world’s largest drink brands in 

twenty different countries. ❐ 


Full to Capacity 

Coca-Cola Shenmei-Shanghai 

Rainer Gras* 

Shanghai is China’s boomtown. 

Coca-Cola China Ltd. Hong Kong 

in Shanghai has been operating a 

joint venture since 1988, initially only as a 

technical partner but since 1996 also directly 

as a co-partner. The province of 

Jiangsu and its capitol city of Shanghai is 

one of the three provinces in which Coca- 

Cola Hong Kong itself participates as a 

joint venture partner. 

Capacity Limit Reached 

Coca-Cola Shenmei, the Shanghai franchise, 

has three plants: one in the Minghang 

District with a capacity of 2 million hl, 

one in the Buoshan District with 800 000 

hl, and a branch operation in the Pu Dong 

New District which is to be converted to a 

3 million litre capacity production plant in 

1997. 

Since the beginning of the technical cooperation 

of Coca-Cola Shanghai,the output 

has increased by an average of 20 per 

cent annually. The Shenmei filling plant, 

located in the Minghang District, has 

reached its capacity limits. The 400 employees, 

working around the clock, produce 

2 million hl each year. 

Shenmei fills the Coca-Cola range of 

products and Sprite as well as the apple, 

lemon, and apricot juices of the Hi-C 

brand of fruit juice. In addition, the assortment 

of products includes its own brand 

of water. Half of the production is filled in 

PET bottles, nearly one third in cans, and 

about. 20 per cent in glass. At the same 

time Shenmei fills briks with fruit juices 

and water with its Tetra Pak line. 

Cans Growing in Popularity 

The 200 ml glass contour deposit 

bottles packed in crates are still having a 

difficult time on the Shanghai market. 

Owing to lack of space, neither the supermarkets 

nor the private households have 

enough room for storage. Non-returnables 

are therefore the preferred market 

packaging where cans in particular are 

gaining in popularity. 

Coca-Cola Shenmei’s most recent joint 

venture together with the Bao Shan operation 

runs a total of seven filling systems, 

four of which are KHS lines. 

Production is thus run with one Tetra 

Pak and two canning lines,one glass filling 

system for 30 000 bph, one PET line, and a 

mixed PET-glass line, as well as a hot filling 

unit. The combined glass-PET line as 

well as an additional glass and can system 

for 600 cpm were installed complete with 

decrater,bottle washer,filler,and crater after 

conclusion of the consultancy agreement 

with Coca-Cola in the year 1988. The 

combined PET-glass line is designed for 

an output of 30000 glass bottles/hour 

and 9000 1.25-litre PET bottles/hour and 

The combined system fills glass and PET bottles. 

SOFT DRINKS 

operates at more than 90 per cent efficiency. 

This was followed in 1992 by a 

66000 cph canning line for 355 ml cans, 

also supplied entirely by KHS and including 

an integrated mixer from KHS Processtechnik. 

Since 1988 the operation inflates 

about half of the bottles using its own PET 

2 000 bph inflator which was augmented 

by a Krupps inflator at the end of 1996. The 

PET bottles are presently labelled prior to 

filling. 


SOFT DRINKS 

No vehicle is too small: Almost half of all PET bottles are currently being purchased. 

PET Filling Together With Fully 

Automatic Labeller 

An order for a new 30 000 1.5-litre bph PET 

line – the fastest PET line in China – has 

now been placed with KHS destined for a 

new plant planned for 1997; the third in 

the joint venture. The new PET filling line 

has been designed according to the most 

recent technological and engineering concepts. 

The Innofill EV volumetric filler, 

blocked with a KHS rotary rinser, guarantees 

accurate filling volume-setting and 

fastest possible change-over to various 

bottle sizes. 

The filling volume-setting can be varied 

by simply pushing a button on the operator 

panel. The filler is blocked by a star to 

the rotary Innoclean rinser. 

Various alternatives are possible for infeeding 

empty PET bottles. Empty PET 

bottles can be stacked on pallets, even 

pallets in worst possible condition are 

automatically processed by direct depalletizing 

and infeeding to the rinser-filler 

block. 

The implementation of an unscrambler 

of suitable capacity is provided as an alternative 

for bulk PET bottles in order to 

perfectly handle not only bulk bottles but 

also bad pallet material and at the same 

time maintain full system performance. 

The involvement of the KHS Innoket 

roll-feed labeller rounds off this high-tech 

filling line.After filling,the Coca-Cola contour 

bottles are labelled with roll-fed, 

plastic sleeve labels. This is the first time 

that a non-returnable PET Coca-Cola bottling 

line has been designed to include a 

fully automatic labeller. 

Increasing Demand Requires 

Rebuilding of Factory 

Also located on the present Shenmei production 

plant site is a Coca-Cola concentrate 

factory which serves export and all of 

China. Owing to the great demand, this 

plant has also reached its capacity limit 

and needs to be rebuilt. 

A phenomenon in Shanghai, particularly 

during the initial phase, was that 

Sprite was more popular than Coca-Cola 

itself. This stems from old traditions. It 

was just a few years ago that tea was the 

primary drink for refreshment.Bottled soft 

drinks from local operations had only a 

small share of the market. The clearness of 

Sprite conveyed the impression of being a 

clean, high quality beverage. But in the 

meanwhile Shanghai’s consumers have 

apparently grown accustomed to their 

Coke: The demand is increasing. With a 

population of 14 million each additional 

litre consumed results in a tremendous 

leap in filling. 

Coca-Cola has received the production 

licence from the Chinese government for 

23 provinces in which plants may be constructed 

but always in conjunction with a 

Chinese joint venture partner. 

Coca-Cola has transferred a major portion 

of the provinces to its partners, the 

Swire and Kerry Groups; only in the three 

provinces Hainan (vacation islands in the 

far south), Hebei (Tianjin), and Jiangsu 

(Shanghai) does Coca-Cola still operate 

filling centres itself, together with jointventure 

partners. ❏ 

*Rainer Gras is Asian Sales Director,KHS,Bad Kreuznach, 

FRG 

Further Tests for 

Flexible Jug in Canada 

A stand-up, re-closable pouch system for 

pasteurised products from Tetra Pak was 

introduced to the Canadian market in 

September 1996 by Dairyworld of Burnaby, 

British Columbia. It launched a four-liter, 

multi-layer LDPE package in Vancouver 

supermarkets and has recently expanded 

distribution to cover outlets in Toronto. 

The flexible jug has a closable spout and 

carry handle an is being used to replace 

plastic pillow pouches, dominant in pasteurised 

milk packaging since the 1970s. ❐ 

Crystal Clear 

Canadian bottler Aberfoyle Springs Water 

Company, Aberfoyle/Ontario, has chosen 

EASTAPAK PET polyester from Eastman 

Chemical Company for its bottles, which 

are supplied by Ontario-based Twinpak 

Inc. Bob Elliott, president of Aberfoyle, 

commented that the excellent clarity of 

the bottles with no taste or odour reflected 

the pristine quality of the water. ❐ 


SOFT DRINKS 

Flexible Soft Drink Pack 

The Joseph Dunn Group, based in 

Glasgow/Scotland, recently installed 

two Gualapack CHP 30 fillers, 

along with an APV pasteuriser, to exploit 

the growing market for Cheerpacks in 

the UK. The decision to invest in the 

Cheerpack has been rewarded with listings 

of the STILL brand by two UK. 

multiples and successes with several cash 

and carry groups. 

Gualapack asked Mr Gerard Dunn, the 

operations director of the Joseph Dunn 

Group,for his views on the Cheerpack success 

story. 

According to Gerard Dunn, the Cheerpack 

is one of the most innovative soft 

drinks packs on the market; it provides an 

immediate and strong point of differentiation 

when compared with other packag- 

Breaking the Ice 

Lawson Mardon Packaging – Flexibles has 

produced a new stand-up pouch for readymixed 

freezer cocktails from United Distillers.The 

freezer cocktails are sold in liquid 

form and frozen at home to produce 

crushed-ice style drinks. 

Consumer convenience, shelf life at 

ambient temperature and a strong visual 

appearance were the criteria set for the 

packaging. LMP-Flexibles met these with 

the 250 ml, three-dimensional stand-up 

pouch which is formed and filled on a 

Hoeller packaging machine. 

ing formats. Consumers like the pack’s 

recloseable feature and the fact that it is 

unbreakable. In addition, the soft feel of 

the pack appeals to the often overlooked 

tactile sense. 

Realising the Cheerpack’s excellent 

potential for graphics, the Still brand was 

designed to make full use of the excellent 

reproduction that gravure print offered, 

Mr Dunn commented. “Retailers in the 

UK. are looking for innovative products 

in what is a competitive market sector. 

Cheerpack’s futuristic appearance, 

coupled with the fresh, thirst-quenching 

Still drinks developed by Joseph Dunn, 

meet this requirement”, he said. 

The Cheerpack is filled using two Gualapack 

CHP 30 fillers supplied with pasteurised 

product from the APV pasteur- 

The pouch, which freezes within three 

to four hours, is composed of a four-ply 

iser. Processing and filling equipment is 

located within a modern purpose-built 

bottling hall. CHP 30 fillers are efficient, 

operator-friendly and easy to mantain. 

Gualapack has supplied over 100 fillers 

world-wide and operates a comprehensive 

technical assistance service for its 

partners. 

“The Joseph Dunn Group may be one 

of Gualapack’s newest partners but the 

relationship is one which is beginning 

to show positive results through close 

co-operation. Future prospects for the 

Cheerpack are encouraging and the Joseph 

Dunn Group will continue to invest 

to support the Cheerpack’s bright future,” 

Mr Dunn concluded. ❐ 

laminate with aluminium foil as a primary 

barrier. An inner heat seal ply of polyethylene 

was chosen to give secure liquidtight 

seals and additional strength and 

stability is achieved through the use of a 

second polyester film between the aluminium 

foil and polyethylene. Residual 

oxygen level of the laminate is controlled 

to achieve a minimum shelf life of twelve 

months. 

A refrigerator door decorated with 

magnets is depicted on the front of the 

pouch; these graphics are achieved by reverse 

printing polyester in seven-colour 

gravure. ❐ 


GLASS/PET 

Chopping and Changing 

Glass and PET Bottles on the Same Line? 

It is more and more often the case 

nowadays that the packaging chosen 

for a product is a major weapon in the 

fierce battle for market share, as it helps 

to create a distinctive identity.Almost half 

of all the packaging used for non-alcoholic 

drinks around the world is made of plastic. 

The proportion of non-alcoholic drink 

packaging accounted for by plastic bottles 

in France amounts to 71% (cans and glass 

bottles: 18%). A considerable increase in 

the use of PET (to 40%) is anticipated with 

mineral water in the countries of the European 

Union, which is likely to be primarily 

at the expense of glass. PET bottles are 

expected to hold far more than 50% of the 

market for carbonated soft drinks and fruit 

juice drinks by the turn of the century. 

Glass Must Fight Harder 

Past experience has shown that thirst 

tends to increase with the Gross National 

Product and non-alcoholic beverages 

are a particularly popular choice with consumers 

here. There are opportunities in 

this area for the lightweight PET bottle. If 

the glass bottle does not succeed in losing 

even more weight, it will have to fight 

harder to hold on to its markets in future – 

even though glass still has plenty of supporters 

who are convinced that the disadvantage 

of its weight is compensated 

for by its advantages. The outcome is 

that bottlers of leading beverage brands 

frequently have to chop and change their 

filling lines. Although the technology for 

alternate processing of these materials 

can in the meantime be considered mature,it 

still requires experience and a great 

deal of new equipment. It is not therefore 

possible to claim that this technology is 

in widespread use yet. Since competition 

is tough and since many different companies 

are investigating or using PET 

bottles and the filling technology needed 

to process them, it is,however,undeniable 

that a large percentage of non-alcoholic 

soft drinks bottlers are certain that PET 

and similar materials have a promising 

future. This is true in particular of the machine 

manufacturing industry. Processing 

glass and plastic on the same filling line 

simultaneously is, however, to all intents 

and purposes out of the question. It will 

continue to be necessary to fill one type of 

bottle today and the other tomorrow. 

Specialists insist that simultaneous pro- 

cessing is practically impossible from the 

technical point of view, at least at prices 

that companies would be willing to pay. 

Complicated Modification 

The alternative processing of glass and 

PET bottles still involves a large amount 

of complicated technical modification, 

primarily because the filling lines run by 

beverage companies belong to a previous 

generation. Where PET bottles are used in 

a returnable system, they have to be able 

to withstand the high temperatures the 

bottles are subjected to in the washing 

equipment – and they normally require lower 

temperatures than this. PET producers 

have in the meantime started 

to supply heat-stable material that can be 

cleaned with water at temperatures of 

up to 75°C. 

These highly crystalline returnable PET 

bottles are not only more suitable for the 

washing process; they also cut the risk of 

taste migration, while they are said to reduce 

waste as well. SLW (global market 

leader in the production of such bottles) 

and PLM in Lidköping (another major producer) 

both use similar arguments to draw 

particular attention to the reduction in 

weight. They claim it leads to lower CO 2 

absorption, a lower residual acetaldehyde 

level (less than 1 microgram/litre), a reduction 

in the impact of the raw material 

price and less handling and transport 

costs. The bottle with a white crystalline 

mouth that is used by GDB (Genossenschaft 

Deutscher Brunnen) is one example 

of the hot filling of hot-wash PET. According 

to information provided by bottling 

companies, there is a definite trend away 

from the alternative bottling of different 

materials. Companies that started bottling 

in PET at an early stage did not yet 

have special PET filling equipment. Glass 

filling lines had to be modified so that 

they could process PET. As soon as the 

machine manufacturers became convinced 

that there would be a market for 

PET, they started to customise machines 

to process PET bottles. Krones, Kettner 

and KHS are prominent manufacturers 

that can be mentioned in this context. The 

development started with new cleaning 

equipment that took account of the 

requirements of PET in their operations. 

Bottling machines have in the meantime 

been introduced with neck ring gripping 

facilities. The bottle is pulled upwards to 

the filling element by its neck ring instead 

of being raised by lifting cylinders that 

engage the base. This makes it possible 

to compensate for differences in bottle 

height that are attributable to material 

shrinkage. The bottles have different wall 

thicknesses too: some 1-litre glass bottles 

still weighed more than 900 grams only 

a few years ago, whereas the plastic of a 

1.5-litre PET bottle tips the scales at just 

106 grams. 

Unavoidable Alterations 

Modifications are therefore unavoidable 

if a glass bottling line is to be used 

alternately to process PET bottles as well. 

PET bottles require different programme 

from glass bottles. Change parts in particular 

are what need to be modified: infeed 

screws, intermediate screws, infeed 

and discharge carousels, transfer carousels 

and gripper units and inspectors 

(control devices) – “sniffers” as they are 

known, which detect odours, for example. 

Consumers sometimes fill returnable 

bottles with liquids that leave traces of extremely 

dominant odours – which adhere 


to plastics particularly stubbornly.When a 

company chops and changes (bottling in 

one material today and the other tomorrow), 

it frequently needs not only to make 

the modifications outlined above but also 

to change the temperature regulation of 

the washing equipment. Experts say that 

this is not exactly economical. 

A major bottling company informed us 

that PET bottles circulate between 17 and 

20 times in practice. This is not very often 

by comparison with the figures recorded 

with glass bottles,which have always been 

far higher than planned by the companies 

themselves. 

Another interesting question is the 

percentage of PET deposit bottles that is 

actually returned. The figure is astonishingly 

high: 97% is what we were quoted. 

In view of the large deposit on them, they 

are returned in the same way as glass 

bottles,but companies also receive a large 

number of the wrong bottles: disposable 

bottles or bottles made by competitors. 

Special problems are, as we can see, encountered 

with PET bottles too. Not all 

the right bottles that are returned can 

be refilled, for example because their 

base ring is broken or because they 

are badly scratched.Some PET bottles 

go “cloudy” too, so they have to be 

scrapped as well. These bottling companies 

still think that PET and similar materials 

are where the future lies even so. 

Weight is the crucial point: in the load 

that is put on transport conveyors, in 

handling by the consumer and in logistics 

operations. This is made clear simply by 

comparing the volume of glass-bottled 

drinks that used to be loaded on a lorry 

with the amount that can now be loaded 

on the “cargo liners” that have been tailormade 

specifically for transporting the 

lightweight plastic bottle. 

High Shrink 

Even beer is already being bottled 

in PET, e.g. by the Hörlimann 

brewery in Switzerland, which is 

using a brown, multilayer 33 cl 

bottle with a nylon barrier 

layer for its lager (shelf life: 

4 months). 

All the experts agree 

that it will be possible 

sooner or later to solve 

the much-quoted 

technical problems 

which can be experienced 

with the 

plastic bottle. The 

commitments 

entered into by 

the large bottling 

companies 

and, in particular, 

their suppliers 

in this 

area should 

not be forgotten 

here. 

It would be 

a debacle 

for them if 

their investments 

in such 

expensive 

equipment 

turned out 

to be a failure. 

It is, however, 

claimed 

that the glass bottle has not 

by any means reached the end 

of the road. This is partly due, it is said, to 

the extremely high cost of switching from 

glass to PET.The bottler does after all have 

to dispose of all his stocks of glass bottles 

and replace them by PET ones. And then it 

eight colours and applied over a 275 ml 

flint bottle from PLM.High shrink is achieved 

in a hot-air shrink tunnel from Intersleeve. 

❐ 

A vodka and koolberry drink from Pioneer 

Brewing Company,the new product division 

of Whitbread Beer Co. comes in a bottle 

with a shrink sleeve from Fuji Seal Europe. 

The PVC sleeve is gravure printed in Problem-free Partitions 

The insertion of partitions between the 

bottles contained in a carton has always 

involved a number of disadvantages, such 

as the cost of cardboard,and the complexity 

of the operations required. A high 

number of machine stoppages, waste and 

consequent lower machine output, the 

large machine size and an uncomfortable 

location of the cardboard storage units,as 

well as the risk of damaging the still wet 

label with the friction between the parti- 

GLASS/PET 

is necessary to invest in many 

different additional pieces of 

equipment. If the plan is, for 

example,to use a small, lightweight 

bottle, it is – so the argument 

goes – no longer 

possible to process it on conventional 

machines with normal 

spraying pressure levels, 

since the bottles themselves 

hardly weigh anything. The 

system needs to be readjusted, 

because a small 

bottle of this kind behaves 

completely differently (as 

regards stability, for instance). 

Insiders suggest 

that many medium-sized 

companies are likely to be 

very reluctant to make the 

enormous investments that 

are needed to install new machinery.One 

example of this is 

Bad Dürrheimer Mineralbrunnen, 

which recently introduced 

a lightweight returnable 

glass bottle. The company management 

indicates that the investment 

required to convert the 

existing equipment to lightweight 

glass bottles amounts to DM 

100000. An appropriate PET line 

would have cost DM 20 million. 

So the “glass/plastic bottle” issue is 

in the final analysis still unsettled, although 

it is in the meantime becoming 

clear that both of them do not 

necessarily have to be processed on one 

and the same line. 

Willy Tyroler 

1 MarketLine, London 

2 drinktec interbrau ‘97 - press release no. 9 

tion and the bottle all contributed to the 

complexity of the operation 

On the other hand, partitions are often 

unavoidable because they preserve the 

condition of the product and prevent bottles 

from breaking, thus reducing the cost 

of transport insurance and storage 

Baumer’s new wrap-around machine 

that inserts partitions offers easier and 

quicker carton loading with a single carton 

storage unit located on ground level. The 

machine requires less space vertically and 

horizontally,offering improved safety conditions.Labels 

are no longer damaged because 

the partitions are fitted and positioned 

without rubbing against the label. 

The partition insertion unit can be activated 

or de-activated depending on what 

is required. ❏ 


GLASS/PET 

New RefPET Plant in the 

Czech Republic 

PLM Expanding to the East and West 

With an eye to the burgeoning German 

market and untapped potential 

to the East, PLM, the 

Sweden-based producer of beverage packaging, 

decided to establish a strategicallyplaced 

Ref-PET factory somewhere in the 

heart of Europe. Following extensive research 

and discussions with local representatives 

of a number of possible locations, 

the decision was taken to construct 

a new factory in the recently-established 

industrial park of the Czech town of 

As˘. Situated just a few kilometres from the 

German border, the plant was built in record 

time on a 30000 m 2 site. 

High Technology Plant 

Production manager in Aˇs is Tommy Hagberg, 

who explained that PLM decided to 

bring in the preforms for the bottles from 

Lidköpingtokeepoperations simple atthe 

beginning. Equipment to produce the preforms 

may eventually be installed in Aˇs, 

but not in the short term as this involves 

further high investment. Three production 

lines, all capable of making bottles between 

0.5 and 2.0 l, are in operation, two 

single blow lines (SBOs), from the French 

machinery manufacturer SIDEL, for production 

of 5000 bottles an hour and a 

refPET bottles on one of the PLM lines in As˘ – the pre-forms come from Lidköping 

SRCF – a double blow line, for what PLM 

calls “second generation” refPET bottles 

with a higher crystallinity. Capacity of the 

SRCF is 6000 bottles and hour. These second 

generation refPet bottles can be 

washed at temperatures of between 70 

and 75°C, weigh less than the single blow 

bottles and have reduced acetaldehyde 

residue.“Although more expensive to produce, 

the reduction in material needed 

almost outweighs the higher manufacturing 

costs and thus means our customers 

have to pay only slightly higher prices for 

these bottles,” Mr Hagberg commented. 

The PLM Factory in As˘ 

Factory Site 30 000 m 2 

Production Floor Area 4000 m 2 

Warehouse 5000 m 2 

No. Of Employees 138 

Shifts 3 eight-hour shifts 

on weekdays 

2 twelve-hour shifts 

at weekends 

Products RefPET bottles 

Machinery Two Sidel SBOs 

One Sidel SRCF 


The SBO machines were taken from PLM’s 

operations in Sweden; the SRCF is new. 

A total workforce of just under 140 employees 

keeps production going day and 

night, seven days a week. 

Storage capacity in the factory warehouse 

is for five million finished bottles, 

this means that orders can usually be dealt 

with the same day. During the summer 

months, Aˇs can load up to 900000 bottles 

for dispatch in one day. 

In a press conference held during 

the official inauguration of the factory, 

Fredrik Arp,president and CEO of the PLM 

group and Per Samuelson, managing 

director of the Plastics Division, gave a 

brief account of the company’s position 

and objectives. Beverage packaging accounts 

for about 85 per cent of the group’s 

business and its strategy for the near future 

is what Mr Arp described as “Nordic 

consolidation and southern expansion”. 

When asked to define “southern expansion” 

more clearly, Mr Samuelson told VR 

that it was not yet clear how the group intended 

to achieve this objective, whether 

through sales or local production. However, 

he did say, “If you do something in 

New PET Recycling Technology 

Paul Stehning GmbH,Limburg/FRG, a subsidiary of OHL 

Apparatebau & Verfahrenstechnik, has developed a new 

process in the recycling of PET bottles, whereby the recovered 

flakes from other recycling methods are extruded 

and granulated in a specially built extruder to 

transform recovered flakes into an acetaldehyde-free 

product for 100 per cent reuse in the plastic bottle cycle. 

The specially developed extruder achieves the 

required degree of polymerisation within defined reaction 

times and under reduced pressure. During the process, 

acetaldehyde, oligomers and all contaminants are 

eliminated,thus ensuring the pellets are totally suitable 

for contact with beverages or food. According to the 

company, the overall processing costs are below those 

for the purchase of virgin material. 

About 20000 tonnes of PET bottles a year are incinerated 

or processed to secondary-quality material in Germany 

at present; the Stehning process closes the cycle. 

With an estimated return of 100000 tonnes of PET 

bottles by the year 2000, market potential for 100 per 

cent recovery is huge. 

Two Stehning processing lines are to be installed for 

German recycling companies in 1997. According to annual 

capacity, they cost between DM six million (5700 

tonnes) and DM eight million (10000 tonnes). Through 

sales of the new process, turnover for OHL Paul Stehning 

is expected to double in 1997 from DM 20 million to 

DM 40 million. 

southern Europe, it would probably be 

through acquisition”. 

In the meantime, PLM negotiations in 

Russia have reached the final stages for a 

new joint venture project to produce aluminium 

cans. A joint venture company 

called PBCM (PLM Beverage Can Manufacturing 

is to be set up with PLM holding 

just over 50 per cent of the shares. Other 

shareholders could include Ball Corporation,Swedfund 

International,the IFC and 

the EBRD. Already signed is a long-term 

contract with The Coca-Cola company,the 

leading producer of beverages in Russia. 

Plans have been drawn up to build a new 

plant in Naro Fominsk, about 70 kilometres 

south-west of Moscow with costs 

estimated to total US$ 120 million. Two 

lines will be installed to produce about 

1.75 billion cans a year and it is hoped that 

operations can begin on the first line at 

the end of 1998. BH 

R 

� 

GLASS/PET 


CANS 

Photo: The Coca-Cola Company 

Inspired by the original glass bottle, 

The Coca-Cola Company has introduced 

a new 12-ounce contour can to 

test markets in the US. Following several 

years of development, the two-piece aluminium 

can with detailed contours has 

been designed to set it apart from the 

many look-alike, straight-wall cans that 

are found on supermarket shelves and to 

further exploit the popular, classic curvy 

form bottle, first introduced in 1915. 

A contoured, 200oz plastic bottle was 

introduced by the company in 1993 with 

considerable success in a stagnant US 

market and on an international scale. 

Swiss Technology 

Building on the strength of the contour 

trademark, external consultants worked 

together with The Coca-Cola Company 

who then asked can manufacturers to 

develop the necessary technology, one 

of whom was Chicago-based American 

National Can, who eventually won the 

contract. American National Can worked 

together with a Swiss company, Oberburg 

Engineering, who as early as 1988 had 

worked on contour-can technology. It had 

developed machinery for a three-walled, 

shaped food tin for a German food proces- 

Curvy Can to 

Boost Sales 

Coca-Cola Making the Most of the 

Real Thing 

sor. Examples of cans 

developed with Oberburg 

technology are illustrated 

on the following 

page. 

Using a Crown filler 

for test production in 

Cleveland, Tenessee, 

only minor adjustments 

were necessary to the 

filling line to permit 

easy switching between 

the filling of straightwall 

and contour cans. 

“The Cleveland, TN, 

plant where the test 

cans are being filled already 

had a Crown 

filler and provided experience 

from tests that 

could be applied easily 

to other facilities with 

similar equipment“, Carol Martel of the 

Coca Cola Company commented. 

Measuring the same in diameter at the 

top and bottom as a traditional can, the 

new product is slightly taller and somewhat 

more expensive to produce. “The 

contour can is slightly more expensive in 

these early stages, as is any new packag- 

No pressure is exerted on the can during filling 

Photo: CS 

ing, but we expect costs to come down 

over time as volume increases”, Ms Martel 

said.When asked whether many problems 

were encountered in filling, stacking and 

shipping of the irregularly shaped can,Carol 

Martel explained that although several 

challenges were expected, very few problems 

had actually been experienced. 

Corner cut-outs to emphasise the curves Photo: Mead 


Handling and Filling 

In the past year, several issues have surfaced 

in the discussion of handling 

and filling 

shaped beverage 

cans in 

beverage production 

lines. 

Given their reducedstructural 

strength, 

can they handle 

the compressive 

pressure exerted 

in the filling process? 

What effect 

will the shaped 

can walls have on 

the ability of the 

can to handle vertical 

pressure and how 

will this affect the filling 

process? How 

complicated will change-overs 

between shaped and 

straight-wall cans be? Are dedicated 

lines required to handle the 

shaped cans? Based on field experience, 

the Crown Simplimatic 

filling system demonstrated that 

the handling and filling systems 

could be modified to accommodate 

shaped and 

straight-wall cans on the same 

line. Depending on the specific 

shaped can design, handling 

system guide rails and top 

covers can be set at the appropriate 

heights to run 

both cans without adjustment, 

eliminating potential 

change-over and line 

down time. Effective filling 

of the shaped can 

requires attention to product 

flow and vertical 

sealing pressures. Creating 

the proper product 

flow angle into 

the shaped container 

reduces 

agitation, potential 

foaming and 

improves fill 

height control. 

The patented 

cushion seal filling 

system ensures 

that virtually 

no pressure 

is exerted on 

the can during 

filling. This eliminates 

any concerns 

regarding possible reduced vertical pressure 

specifications of shaped containers. 

Corner Cut-outs 

Multipacks for the new can were designed 

by Mead Packaging, the Atlantabased 

division of The Mead Corporation. 

Mead Packaging also created the Basketwrap 

multipack for the 20-ounce plastic 

contour bottle in 1994. 

The can packs feature corner cut-outs 

to emphasise the curves of the can. Six, 

eight and eighteen-can configurations 

are possible with the end-loaded, sleeve-style 

multipack. Each configuration 

has a different handle design.Six-packs 

have finger holes, eight-packs a 

single-ply strap handle and eighteen 

packs a grip slot handle. End panels 

are glued with a hot melt adhesive. 

Together with Mead and the Coca- 

Cola Company, can 

designers and 

manufacturers 

were involved 

in the multipack 

project. 

The packaging 

was produced 

at Mead’s converting 

facility 

in Atlanta, Georgia, 

using Mead 

CNK paperboard, 

which is suitable 

for both wet and 

dry serving environments. 

A range of 

packaging solutions 

were created to meet 

the new contour can 

specifications and selection 

of the final 

multipack style followed 

extensive marketing 

evaluations and 

consumer testing. 

A customised Mead Duodozen 

packaging system was installed 

to multi pack the contour cans. 

Ian W. Millar, president of 

Mead packaging said that secondary 

packaging had become 

valued for its ability to enhance 

and promote unique 

primary shapes. “We believe 

this trend will strengthen and 

we see a special bond growing 

between primary and secondary 

packaging similar to what 

has been accomplished for the 

contour bottle and now for the 

contour can,” he concluded. 

BH 

CANS 

Feel the Bubbles 

An embossed can for Sprite was recently 

launched by The Coca-Cola Company in 

US test markets. Indented bubbles and 

silver tears are highlighted through registered 

embossing on the can which is 

made by American National Can. Printing 

is carried out before the indentations 

are made, on equipment from Ragsdale 

Machinery, Englewood, Colorado. ❐ 

The Intelligent Can 

British Steel Tinplate has developed a new 

beverage can that tells the consumer 

when the contents are ideally chilled at 

between 5 and 8 °C. Called the Smart Can, 

the container carries an ultra-thin plastic 

film label that is printed with monochrome 

ink that reacts optically to temperature 

changes. When the can cools, the 

colour of the film turns from white to blue 

and the text “ready to serve” appears on 

the label. 

Coca-Cola and Pepsi are both using the 

can for promotional activities and several 

large breweries and producers of carbonated 

drinks are showing interest in the 

concept. ❐ 


CARTONS 

A Bottle Made of Cardboard 

It is made of laminated cardboard, like 

a traditional milk container, but it is 

bottle-shaped and has a screw cap. It’s 

a new, patented container designed by 

Italpak, who also sells the machine to 

build, fill and close the new container 

which has generated great interest among 

large companies in the food, detergent 

and cosmetic markets. 

The Pack 

To combine the advantages of the traditional 

laminated cardboard container and 

the PET bottle – this was the philosophy 

behind the new container which Modenabased 

Italpak introduced at Ipack-Ima 

1997. Italpak created both the pack, called 

“Self Closing”, and the machine needed to 

produce, fill and close it. 

Being made of laminated cardboard, 

Self Closing can be regarded as an evolution 

of the traditional container which 

Tetrapack made so successful in the milk 

market. The most important innovations 

in the new pack are the bottle-like shape 

and the bottle-like outlet with screw cap. 

In addition a tremendous improvement in 

flexibility has been achieved. The user can 

choose among three different shapes 

(square/rectangular, round or oval base) 

and among sizes ranging from 10 millilitres 

to 2 litres. This means that Self Closing 

can be used for a much wider range of 

products, not only in the food market but 

also in the detergent and cosmetic sectors 

and many others besides, e.g. engine 

oil packaging. An aluminium seal can be 

placed under the screw cap to prevent 

tampering. Furthermore, the container 

can be produced without an outlet,for use 

in the packaging of liquid and non-liquid 

food, such as fresh cheese or yoghurt. 

Compared to the traditional laminated 

cardboard container, Self Closing is easier 

to open and re-close, ensuring hermetic 

re-closability. It also allows for the contents 

to be poured until the last drop. 

Compared to the PET bottle, Self Closing 

is probably less expensive, needs no label 

and offers the entire pack surface for printing 

and design. 

Patented world-wide, the new container 

was invented by Giordano Magnoni, 

owner of Italpak and a veteran of the packaging 

industry. “We really believe Self 

Closing is a big breakthrough in the world 

packaging arena,offering something really 

new to a market which is always seeking 

new ideas,“ Mr Magnoni said. “We have 

already received a lot of interest from major 

food, cosmetic and chemical companies, 

there we expect a big success 

world-wide”. 

The Machine 

The inventor of a new pack has a range of 

options which include selling the patent 

and selling the right to produce the new 

package under licence agreements. Italpack 

is seeking to sell to each user the 

special machine needed to build,fill,close 

and seal the new container. The machine 

was also designed by Italpak and it too is 

an innovation. Italpak had to satisfy several 

specific requirements in order to produce 

the special bottle-like shape of Self 

Closing and solder the outlet part on top 

of it. A prototype of the machine was 

exhibited at the last Ipack-Ima show in Milan 

and serial production can now commence. 

Production speeds of 3600 pieces 

per hour can be achieved with the machine 

whereby higher speeds are possible 

if a customer so wishes. The machine can 

be adapted to run in antiseptic conditions, 

it is easy to clean and has a 

relatively small footprint. Italpak declined 

to disclose the particular features of the 

machine. 

Giordano Magnoni, who founded Italpak 

in 1984, keeps information on the 

company very close to his chest and declined 

to disclose details on company revenue 

or size of workforce. Up until now, Italpak 

has been a supplier of packaging 

services, i.e. producing and filling sachets 

for free samples or single portions of 

sauces, etc. As part of this activity, the 

company has already developed other innovative 

containers, for example Brovit, 

and has built packaging machines for their 

own internal use. Clearly, large-scale sale 

of the new machine to multinational companies 

would mean a big change in activities 

for Italpak and would require the reinforcement 

of the sales and after-sale 

service divisions.“We are aware of this and 

we are already addressing these needs 

through initiatives which at present I cannot 

disclose,” Mr Magnoni said. 

Roberto Frazzoli 


Exploiting glass to the full with a no-label look 

Glass has made a remarkable come 

back for premium products in the 

UK; however, clear labels are now, 

it seems, also the thing to use to make 

products catch the eye. Nowhere is this 

more apparent than in the market for mineral 

and spring waters where the “commodity” 

waters are readily available in 

standard PVC or PET bottles, while in the 

premium sector of both the plain waters 

and the flavoured versions, which fall into 

the adult soft drink category, the packaging 

has moved very much up market. 

Clear labels play a major role in the upmarket 

look and their use spans the entire 

range from small local bottlers to major 

national brands. For example, at the top 

end of the market one of the most striking 

bottle ranges in the UK is that used for 

Caledonian Clear flavoured spring water. 

Launched in 1993 by the newly formed 

company Beverage Brands, sales took off 

well, taking Caledonian Clear to the No. 1 

spot in the flavoured water sector very 

rapidly. Originally four flavours were available, 

Orchard Apple, Wild Blackberry, 

Spring Raspberry and Perfect Peach. 

In addition to launching the brand in 

the UK, Beverage Brands set up distribution 

networks in the USA, Holland, Finland, 

Singapore, Bahrain and Thailand. 

The product also received an award for 

VR Beverage Packaging 1997 

being the “Most Stylish Newcomer of 1993” 

in the Zenith Guide to Adult Soft Drinks. 

Striking Packaging 

This leading position probably owes as 

much to its striking packaging as to its 

range of flavours. The man behind the 

launch of the product, Joe Woods, managing 

director of Beverage Brands, says the 

development of Caledonian Clear followed 

extensive research into the beverage 

market world-wide.He looked particularly 

at the American market and the way 

clear spring waters were carving out a 

huge market.However,he did not consider 

any of the American products would 

transfer directly to the European market. 

Instead he looked at launching an entirely 

new product and focused on the development 

of Caledonian Clear. 

From the start it was aimed at the top 

end of the market and, as he says, in his 

opinion, “glass equals class”, so the decision 

on the bottle material was made for 

him. He then wanted to exploit the use of 

glass to the full by using a no-label-look 

label to give a bright image to the product 

and allow the clarity of the glass and the 

product to speak for themselves. 

The image was intended to reflect the 

purity of the product’s Scottish origins, 

a country perceived by many as a place 

full fast flowing, fresh mountain streams 

where people can breathe pure unpolluted 

air. 

Caledonian Clear is now bottled in 

Scotland at a £ 4 million plant built by 

Beverage Brands at the very source of the 

water used in its production. The filling 

operation goes under the name of Caledonian 

Bottlers and, while it was originally 

built just for Caledonian Clear, two other 

products, Woody’s and WKD, which have 

been launched more recently by Beverage 

Brands, are also bottled there in smaller 

quantities. 

Tailor-made Line 

As they were starting with a perfectly 

clean sheet when it came to designing 

the line, it was possible for Caledonian 

Bottlers to select the best equipment for 

their purpose and configure the line to 

suit the components being handled. The 

result is a line capable of filling up to 9000 

LABELLING 

No-Label Look 

a Clear Winner 

bottles an hour and designed to ensure 

the no-label-look label is used in the best 

way possible. 

To this end, the line actually starts with 

the labeller, a Krones Autocol, used to apply 

the clear polypropylene labels supplied 

by the German company Zweckform. 

The labels are rotary gravure printed, a 

method selected for its ability to enable 

full photographic reproduction of the fruit 

depicted on each of the flavours. As they 

leave the labeller, a date code and sell-by 

date are added to the labels by a hot foil 

coder manufactured by local company ITS. 

Pristine Condition 

Freddie Williams, managing director at 

Caledonian Bottlers, says it was decided 

to label the bottles first in order to present 

the labeller with a bottle in absolutely 

pristine condition. Four different bottle 

sizes are used – 200, 330, 500 and 700ml. 

They are round and have a long tapered 

shape which necks down quickly at the top 

to a 28mm screw finish and are manufactured 

exclusively for Caledonian Clear 

by Lax & Shaw, Beatson Clark or PLM 

Redfearn. 

They arrive in shrink wrapped pallets to 

keep out any dust or moisture and are unloaded 

using a semi-automatic depalletiser 

supplied by Yorkshire Products and 

fed onto the infeed conveyor perfectly 

No-label look for a cult drink from Australia 

27

LABELLING 

clean and dry. This enables the label to 

adhere perfectly to the sloping sides of the 

bottles leaving no air bubbles or trapped 

moisture to produce irregularities in the 

label, so giving the perfect no-label look. 

Once labelled,the bottles pass through 

a rinser where the insides are rinsed with 

the same Scottish mineral water used to 

form the basis of Caledonian Clear flavoured 

waters. The rinser has been supplied 

by Italian manufacturer Bertolaso, 

which also supplied the 42-head filler and 

capper. 

The product is fed to the filler from 

an RTD (Ready To Drink) system where 

batches of each flavour are mixed in a 

20000 litre tank. Mr Williams says he selected 

RTD rather than a proportioning 

system as it helps ensure the quality of the 

product. Once a batch is mixed, it is possible 

to test it before filling and one can be 

certain that,once filling begins,the quality 

will be maintained throughout the run. 

Printed ROPP closures, supplied by 

Metal Closures, are used to seal the 

bottles, all of which have the same neck 

finish and so can use the same size of 

closure. Once capped, the completed 

bottles are hand-loaded into trays holding 

either 12 or 24 bottles and shrink wrapped 

using a Doboy shrink wrapper and tunnel. 

Improving an Image 

Although there were just four flavours 

originally, the range now includes five 

standard flavours, the extra one being 

Arctic Strawberry, while Perfect Peach has 

become Summer Peach. In addition, there 

are now two light versions, Pear William 

and Summer Peach, which are helping to 

build further on the brand’s success. It is 

still No 1 on the domestic market and 

exports continue to grow with Hong Kong 

being the top export market followed by 

Sweden, Japan and Singapore. 

Flexible Adhesive 

Gains Rapid Acceptance 

Croda Adhesives, a major operating division 

of the multinational speciality chemicals 

and coatings group, Croda International 

Plc, has developed a new caseinbased 

adhesive called Crodagum 21-946. 

One focus of business for the company 

is labelling, particularly since the recent 

acquisition of US based Ajax Adhesives, a 

leading producer in this field. Building on 

this expertise, Croda recently introduced 

Crodagum 21-946 to the market. The ad- 

Bottles and distinctive labels for restaurants 

Although a much smaller operation, 

Cheshire-based Nether Alderley Spring 

Water has also decided to employ clear labels 

on some of its products to improve 

their image. Nether Alderley supplies still, 

sparkling and flavoured spring water to 

retail outlets and restaurants, mainly 

around its own locality, although distribution 

of its products is expanding. 

The company started in 1993 and the 

water comes from a local spring which, for 

many years, supplied water to houses in 

the village. When the houses were connected 

to the mains water supply the 

spring was capped and the flow diverted 

to the bottling line. 

While PET bottles are used for most of 

its products, Nether Alderley uses glass 

bottles for supplies of still and sparkling 

spring water to restaurants where,it is felt, 

diners find a glass bottle more acceptable 

on a table. For some time printed green 

glass bottles were used but at the end of 

last year the company decided to move its 

restaurant bottles up-market by adopting 

clear glass and a distinctive label. 

The one constraint on the labels was 

that, as the company only has one filling 

line, they had to be compatible with the 

existing labeller. Nether Alderley worked 

with Leeds-based Double S Labels who 

adapted the design on the printed bottles 

to suit a clear polypropylene label. They 

are printed in three colours – white, 

gold and green for the sparkling water and 

white, gold and blue for the still. 

The line at Nether Alderley is a small, 

semi-automatic system, and the equipment 

on the line and the packaging components 

used have been selected to be as 

universal as possible.Bottles are hand-fed 

to a 12-head Seitz filler which can fill the 

750ml bottles at a speed of 1 300 an hour. 

Plastic screw caps manufactured by Betts 

are used as they are suitable for both glass 

and PET bottles. A gold cap is used on 

the sparkling water and blue on the still 

and they are applied by a single-head 

Bertolaso capper. 

As they leave the capper, a time and 

date of manufacture and a sell-by date are 

added to the neck of each bottle by a 

Videojet ink jet printer before passing on 

to a PALS labeller, which can handle the 

clear labels used on the glass bottles 

as well as the paper labels used on the 

PET bottles. Once filled and labelled, the 

bottles are hand packed into shallow, 

corrugated trays and shrink wrapped 

using an EDL sleeve wrapper and tunnel. 

Dave Beviss, the managing director at 

Nether Alderley says the new labels have 

not only improved the look of the glass 

bottles but provide a saving over the 

printed bottles. He says they have been 

very well received by the restaurants he 

supplies and are definitely helping to 

expand sales of the company’s products 

into a wider geographical area. 

Ken Goddard 

hesive was originally designed to eliminate 

all condensed water related problems 

in the brewery sector. However, it is now 

generating interest throughout the labelling 

market as it is proving to be highly efficiency 

and economical in use on both 

high- and low-speed labelling machines. 

Other properties of the glue include what 

the company describes as an aggressive 

wet tack and fast setting. 

Croda also produces water based products 

with polysaccharide and dextrin 

polymers, emulsion adhesives and EVA, 

EPO and rubber based hotmelts. ❐ 


LABELLING 

Marketing Label Papers 

by Manfred Marschner* 

Beyond performing a necessary and legally 

required role, labels today have 

gained tremendous importance in product 

marketing. They convey the value 

of a product, contribute to its image, 

are the major vehicle of a brand. 

Today’s label papers are the result of 

a continual development in quality 

standards which have to meet a wide 

number of challenges in the areas of 

print and finishing, labelling, ease 

of removal from bottles, and finally 

recycling of used labels. 

Technical Aspects of Label Papers 

Labels are made of one-side coated 

papers. A basic distinction is drawn between 

machine-coated and cast-coated 

papers and between wet strength and 

alkali-resistant papers on the one hand 

and non-wet strength papers on the other. 

Wet strength and alkali resistant 

papers are used to label refillable and 

one-way bottles In this area, base papers 

for metallisation represents a significant 

special category. 

Non wet strength papers are used for 

labelling and packaging under dry and 

warm conditions – mainly for labels 

and banderoles, but also for chocolate 

wrappers, cigarette soft packs, etc. and 

for lamination. 

Cast-coated papers are used in the labelling 

of high-class drinks, such as wine, 

champagne, etc., in addition to a variety 

of foodstuffs. Their extremely high-gloss 

finish bestows on the product a high sense 

of value, whilst the uncoated side is 

eminently suitable for the labelling process. 

Cast-coated papers are also used in 

the manufacture of self-adhesive labels. 

The European market for one-side 

coated papers is about 500000 t, approximately 

2.5% of the total paper market. In 

recent years, the market for machinecoated 

label papers has seen only slight 

average growth of 2-3%, whilst sales of 

wet strength and alkali-resistant papers 

have grown only in line with the low 

growth in their application areas. The use 

of cast-coated papers in labelling has 

stagnated. 

*Managing Director of Stora Fine Paper Deutschland 

Composition of a Label Paper 

Label papers are made up of: base 

paper, surface coating and treatment 

of the reverse side. Base papers are 

predominantly high quality, wood-free 

papers. However, papers containing a 

small proportion of mechanical fibres are 

used in some areas (e.g. for labelling wine 

and soft drinks). 

The surface coating consists mainly of 

pigments and binding agents to achieve 

optimal printing characteristics. Further 

additives serve to adjust whiteness, water 

and alkali resistance, resistance of the 

printing inks to wet abrasion, alkali-bath 

ink retention etc. 

The main purpose of the reverse side 

treatment is to reduce as far as possible 

curling which results from coating one 

side of the paper and to ensure optimum 

flatness when the paper is exposed to 

varying ambient conditions, adhesive and 

moisture. It is also used to adjust water 

absorption and wetting properties and 

thus adhesive curing times. Finally, it can 

be specifically used to influence the diecutting 

properties of the paper. 

The main properties of label papers can 

be divided into the categories “Print and 

Finishing” and “Labelling”. 

Print and finishing: the optical 

qualities of whiteness, smoothness and 

gloss are critical to printing quality.Whiteness 

and gloss are important for brilliant 

colour reproduction,whilst smoothness is 

decisive for highly accurate reproduction 

and optimum resolution. 

Processing characteristics are mainly 

influenced by flatness, sheet separation 

and the stiffness of the paper. 

Label papers are largely offset printed, 

but the upper, coated side, must be suitable 

for offset and rotogravure printing. 

They must also be suitable for subsequent 

lacquering with water-based dispersion 

lacquers, solvent-based lacquers and 

ultraviolet lacquers. For wet strength and 

alkali-resistant label papers the printing 

ink must be well fixed to ensure good ink 

adhesion in alkali-bath bottle cleaning. 

Labelling: optimum flatness and good 

label separation are basic requirements. 

In the case of non wet strength label 

papers, good sizing is necessary to prevent 

glue bleed when adhesives are applied 

to the whole surface. Moreover, these 

papers must not contain substances 

which might produce corrosion when in 

contact with cans. The wet strength level 

required of a label paper depends on the 

speed of the labelling process and the 

filling conditions. Wet surfaces or condensation 

must not result in creasing and the 

original gloss of the label paper must be 

retained. In addition, a label must retain 

its good appearance, even when exposed 

to condensation or when immersed in 

ice-cold water. Especially the so-called 

wet opacity (intransparency) is crucial for 

the optical appearance of the label under 

such conditions. 

Another extremely important characteristic 

is the alkali-resistance of the 

paper. When exposed to the alkaline solutions 

used in bottle cleaning, the label 

must come off the bottle very quickly yet 

it must not disintegrate. 

Labelling Trends 

In the mid-80s, beer was mainly bottled at 

temperatures of between 3 and 4°C. This 

resulted in the formation of heavy condensation 

on the bottles and produced 

a need to use casein adhesives. To avoid 

labelling problems, especially creasing, 

the water absorbency of the reverse of the 

label had to be kept low. Labelling speed 

has brought about further changes. These 

days, bottling machines are no longer operated 

at maximum speed. Today,average 

bottling performance is in the order of 

45000 bottles per hour. In recent years, 

bottling temperatures in many breweries 

have been raised to between 10 and 14°C 

due to the introduction of ‘flash pasteurisation’ 

to extend shelf-life and to the use 

of sealed crates, which make it necessary 

to minimise condensation on bottles. 

This development permitted the use of 

adhesives with reduced casein content, 

making it necessary to modify the water 

absorbency of the reverse side of label 

papers. 

The steadily increasing use of light,thin 

glass and light plastic bottles (especially 

PET) for soft drinks and mineral waters 

represents a further trend. 

Germany and other European countries 

are now seeing the introduction of returnable 

PET bottles.Paper labels are well 

suited for labelling this new form of 

packaging. ❐ 


BITS & PIECES 

More Than Just Bottles 

A whole range of stylish products comes 

from the Container Glass Division of 

French Conglomerate Saint-Gobain. Engraved 

glass, appealing shapes and use of 

colour enhance appeal of the contents. 

Amongst new designs, introduced in 1996, 

and proving to be very successful are a 

bottle for special culinary oils, a bottle for 

chilled soft drinks, the “long-necks” for 

wine and the 50cl wine bottle “to accommodate 

modern consumption trends”.❐ 

Not just 

for olive oil 

Refreshing 

Lasting 

impression 

High-tech Handling of 

Champagne Bottles 

ABB Flexible Automation AG, Zürich/CH, 

developed an industrial robot system for 

the handling of champagne/sparkling 

wine bottles at the end of the 1970s and 

has since continued to improve on the 

original system. One of the latest inno- 

Gentle handling of champagne bottles with ABB 

robots 

vations is the automatic chilling of the 

bottles, called “dégorgement”, whereby 

the bottlenecks are inserted into a chilling 

solution to remove residue yeast from the 

second fermentation.An ABB IRB 6000 robot 

places the neck of the bottle in the 

solution where it remains for eight minutes. 

A second robot then removes the 

bottle, turns it round and places it on a 

conveyor appliance so that the frozen residue 

can be removed. A total of 8 500 

bottles can be handled every hour. 

These robots are also capable of packing 

9 000 bottles per hour into wooden 

crates. Each crate holds 500 bottles, 

placed in 10 layers. 

The wooden crates are transported by 

the robot from the storage cellar to the 

packing station. The IRB 6000, equipped 

with a special vacuum grip, takes 25 

bottles at a time, stands them upright on 

a conveyor which transports them to the 

packaging unit 

In addition to bottle handling, ABB robots 

are also used in automatic palletising.The 

IRB 6400,for example,stacks Tetra 

Paks. 

With a special product grip, the robot 

takes six trays of twelve Tetra-Paks each 

from the product line, positions them and 

stacks them according to a programmed 

Automatic packaging process tailor-made 

constellation. At the same time that the 

finished pallets are transported to the dispatch 

area, the robot takes an empty pallet, 

places it in the programmed position 

and commences the construction of the 

next pallet. 

ABB robot processes are tailor-made to 

the exact requirements of the user and installed 

as complete systems. ❐ 

Stable and Stackable 

Riverwood International of Houston, Texas/USA, 

has developed a new packaging 

concept called Cap-It 1000 for medium 

size PET bottles. The machine can handle 

PET bottles ranging from 16 oz to one litre 

with collared necks in a variety of proprietary 

shapes, straight/swirl/contour walls 

and full or petalloid bases. It can run four, 

six and eight bottle packs, with and without 

handles, at speeds of up to 150 packs 

per minute, whatever the package format. 

Optional finger holes or an extended 

handle for ease of carrying are also offered. 

❐ 


VR Beverage Packaging 

is a special issue of 

VR Verpackungs-Rundschau 

ISSN 0341-7131 

Published by: 

P. Keppler Verlag GmbH & Co.KG 

Industriestr. 2 

D-63150 Heusenstamm 

Phone: +49-6104-606 207 

Fax: +49-6104-606 323 

email: verpackungsrundschau@t-online.de 

URL: http://www.verpackungsrundschau.de 

Publisher: Eckhart Thomas; 

Product Manager: Sabine Thomas 

Editor-in-chief: Dipl.-Ing. Norbert Sauermann 

Editor: Erika Berg 

Editorial Queries: Manfred Fuhrmann, 

Tel: +49-6104-606 314; 

Advertising Manager: Marion Gilges-Schneider, 

Tel: +49-6104-606 320; 

Advertising Sales: Michaela Kunz, 

Tel: +49-6104-606 322 

Printed by: Central-Druck Trost GmbH & Co., 

Heusenstamm 

All rights reserved. No guarantee 

is offered for unrequested manuscripts. 

Signed or initialled articles 

always represent the opinion of the 

author. All articles published in this 

journal are copyrighted. No part of 

this publication may be reproduced 

or transmitted in any form or by any 

means, electronic or mechanical, including 

photocopy, recording or any 

information storage and retrieval 

system, without written permission 

from the publisher.

At the Cutting Edge of Beverage Filling - Verpackungs-Rundschau

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