The investment allowed Alpla to produce bottles for the full range of Coca-Cola branded products on behalf of client Coca-Cola Femsa.
After field-testing the new SBO 24 Sidel Matrix blow-moulder in February 2012, plastic packaging solutions provider Alpla quickly ordered a second, on which production started only 12 months later. Both of the new blowers are located at the Toluca plant of Coca-Cola Femsa – in sales volume – one of the largest Coca-Cola bottlers in the world.
Alpla selected Sidel as its partner for the project by highlighting the different solutions available on the market, focusing mainly on investment costs, energy consumption, maintenance and after-sales service, alongside the capacity that Sidel Matrix offers to reduce bottle scrap rate. Martin Stark, technical and purchasing director at Alpla, explained: “We wanted an optimal solution offering reduced energy consumption and maintenance costs. These are the two main reasons we chose the new generation of Sidel Matrix blowers – along with the fact that Sidel performs better on-site service compared to other suppliers.”
Alpla acquired the second Matrix blower in 2013 following the success, efficiency and performance attained by the original. The challenge in both cases was to limit the consequences of installation and start-up on production, as the old machines had to be stopped in parallel. Martin Stark explained: “The two new SBO 24 Matrix blowers came in to replace previous generation Sidel blow-moulders – one SBO 16, two SBO 18, and one SBO 20 – to produce the full range of Coca-Cola products. The bottle scrap rate is lower than production on the blow-label-fill solution and the reduced footprint of the machines has increased our storage capacity for preforms.”
Installed in a wall-to-wall configuration in Coca-Cola Femsa’s plant in Toluca, located less than one hour from Mexico City in the south of the country, the two machines are in production 24/7. Producing 2,200 bottles per hour per mould, one blower is mainly dedicated to 400ml format bottles and the second one to 600ml format bottles.
With its latest innovations – Ecoven with a large process window, improved ventilation in the oven, electrical stretching – the Sidel Matrix blower successfully handles all the different preforms whatever the raw material – virgin or PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled) PET – regardless of whether the preforms have recently been injected or come from storage. There is no compromise on bottle quality or output. Mr Stark commented: “This latest solution shows great improvement over the former technology. It allows us to use a wider range of PET materials and offers great potential for lightweighting. Even if the production of bottles with 50% PCR PET preforms is generally more complex in terms of process, performance of the bottles was right from the outset.”
After some months of running at 2,200 bottles per mould per hour for both machines, the overall performance of the blowers fully meets Alpla’s expectations. According to Mr Stark: “After tailoring the modular Sidel Matrix blowers for our specific needs, the performance reached the level we were targeting, with an efficiency of up to 98% and an output matching that of the filling line. The availability and the uptime of the machines are at the right level.”
Furthermore, as Stark explained: “Other criteria which were key in the decision process, were the ease of operation and maintenance for the technicians as well changeover flexibility for different beverages.” When it comes to changeover needs for example, Alpla’s objective was to optimise uptime of the line: “We have to handle a format-change every day on 24 blowing cavities, so we needed flexibility and easy operation. That’s why Alpla chose Sidel’s Bottle Switch.”
Throughout the project, Sidel provided Alpla with support, advice and recommendations in terms of production management. Alpla’s technical and purchasing director Martin Stark summed up: “During the project, communication between Alpla and Sidel teams was very good, and the Sidel team was always responsive. The times scheduled for the commissioning and start-up of the blowers were met with relative ease. Sidel’s local presence and proximity was also vital. It was one of the key factors in deciding to buy the second Sidel Matrix blower, which was installed in February 2013. The collaboration between Alpla and Sidel is a long and trusting partnership.”
Source: Sidel
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