40 years of KHS Corpoplast
40 years of KHS Corpoplast
Dortmund/Hamburg, Germany, 18. February 2015 - KHS Corpoplast GmbH, Hamburg, celebrates its 40th anniversary. The company that specializes in developing and manufacturing machines for PET bottle production has been working successfully for the beverage, food and non-food industries worldwide since its founding.The first PET bottles that were produced in the mid-seventies on Corpoplast stretch blow molders were family bottles for Coca-Cola and Pepsi. During the ensuing four decades, hundreds of beverage brands from around the world followed that also rely on the comprehensive know-how, expertise and innovative strength of Corpoplast for their PET systems.
Top material: PET molds the packaging industry A new era dawned for the packaging industry - especially for bottle production - when at the beginning of the 1970s PET which self-hardened in the stretch blow molding process hit the market. Corpoplast was a pioneer and trendsetter right from the start. After its beginnings in the Gildemeister Group, in January 1975 Corpoplast branched out as a specialist company with machine and PET expertise for the production of consumer-friendly bottles.
Pole position for lightweighting As early as in the 1980s Corpoplast realized that with resources becoming ever scarcer and cost issues more and more prevalent it was important to start producing very light bottles. This awareness became a key issue for the company which since this time has worked successfully on finding new ways of further reducing the weight of PET bottles. Here, Corpoplast feels that its forward-looking perspective and endeavor to produce sustainable systems are endorsed by today's success on the market.
In 2008 Corpoplast joined the KHS Group, one of the world's leading suppliers of highly innovative filling and packaging systems with over 145 years of expertise in its field. KHS Corpoplast now focuses its activities on constant further development in the lightweight sector, adopting a holistic approach to the manufacture, filling, labeling and packaging of PET bottles throughout the entire PET filling line.
Economic production with long-term benefits With lighter bottles beverage producers can reduce their consumption of materials and thus cut their production costs. This makes a considerable contribution to greater economy in the value chain. Extremely light PET bottles also provide many benefits regarding environmental friendliness and sustainability. One excellent example of the lightweighting expertise of the KHS Group is the recent development of the world's lightest 0.5-liter PET bottle with a screw cap for highly carbonated beverages. With this KHS underlines again its international pioneering role in designing innovative packaging solutions and sustainable systems. With regard to the energy used during production, light PET bottles quickly pay off. The KHS InnoPET Blomax Series IV from KHS Corpoplast shows just what is possible here. This latest generation of stretch blow molders not only produces up to 81,000 bottles per hour but also saves up to 40% energy compared to the previous model. This has also been confirmed by the awarding of a TÜV certificate for energy-efficient plant technology. In production not only is high machine and line availability important but also efficient changeovers to other formats, as most bottling plants produce many different types of product. These requirements have been taken into due consideration in the development of KHS stretch blow molders, giving customers a high degree of reliability and quality in their beverage production.
All-round service for beneficial packaging systems KHS has grouped its bottle development services into a single program entitled Bottles & Shapes. In this program customers in the beverage and food industries profit from the PET and filler expertise and many years of experience in the bottle manufacturing process amassed by KHS' highly qualified personnel. Products and support services geared towards the continuous further development of PET packaging are at the heart of the program, with the aim on saving energy and resources. The spectrum ranges from brand-specific designs to the development of different bottle sizes through bottle stability and suitable closures to the finished bottle, which can then be efficiently further processed in filling and packaging companies.
Success through innovative development Today, KHS Corpoplast is a leading international manufacturer of stretch blow molding technology and a competent partner for all issues surrounding the perfect PET bottle. Together with the KHS Group it offers a full portfolio of single machines and turnkey lines on the very strong growth market for PET filling and packaging machinery. Technical innovations which go far beyond stretch blow molding technology are developed by NMP Systems GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of KHS GmbH. Example products include the film-free and thus sustainable Nature MultiPack™ and the Direct Print system for the direct digital printing of containers.
"Our combined technology and expertise under the umbrella of the KHS Group create unique synergies, the results of which we pass on to our customers as holistic packaging systems with definitive market advantages. We want to continue to build on this ambition in the future, too," states Thomas Karell, managing director of KHS Corpoplast GmbH.
KHS Corpoplast:
PET milestones
1971
Stretch blow-moldable PET is launched to market for the first time. The innovative plastic heralds the dawn of a new era for the packaging industry and especially for bottle production. In the same year machine tool manufacturer Gildemeister starts developing a then unique high-performance rotary machine for the stretch blow molding of PET bottles.
1975
Gildemeister Corpoplast is founded in January. The company consists of the former Gildemeister PET machine division and specializes in systems for the manufacture of PET bottles right from the start. The first products to roll off the production line are family bottles for Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
1979
The range of machines is developed further and the first generation of stretch blow molders optimized to run at a maximum capacity of 1,000 bottles per cavity and hour.
1994
During improvements to performance and design the machine portfolio is given a new name which becomes synonymous with first-class technology and top efficiency in PET stretch blow molding: BLOMAX.
2003
The newly developed Plasmax system by present subsidiary KHS Plasmax GmbH, Hamburg, sets world standards with its top-quality glass barrier coating for PET bottles. This significantly improves the shelf life and quality of products filled into PET bottles.
2004
The thousandth Blomax stretch blow molder by Corpoplast is shipped to the USA. The customer is Coca-Cola bottler Western Container Corporation in Big Spring, Texas.
2005
Corpoplast wins its first award under the ECOPROFIT program (ECOlogical PROject For Integrated environmental Technology).
2006
World record: Corpoplast develops the first 0.5-liter bottle for still water weighing just 12 grams. The lightweight is produced on a Blomax Series III.
2008
KHS takes over the two Hamburg companies Corpoplast and Plasmax. The merger forges a strong partnership with a wealth of technological expertise for turnkey PET filling lines under the auspices of Salzgitter AG.
2009
At the drinktec trade show in Munich KHS Corpoplast presents its high-performance InnoPET Blomax Series IV stretch blow molders which can produce up to 72,000 bottles per hour.
2010
Market launch of the compact InnoPET BloFill Series IV stretch blow molder/filler block which can also output up to 72,000 bottles per hour.
2013
KHS exhibits its InnoPET BloFill UCF stretch blow molder/filler block at drinktec. This is the first machine to manufacture and fill up to 60,000 bottles per hour under low-germ conditions.
The InnoPET Blomax Series IV satisfies the high requirements of the TÜV SÜD standard and is awarded a TÜV certificate for energy-efficient plant technology.
2014
At the 2014 BrauBeviale trade show in Nuremberg KHS Corpoplast specifically presents its expertise in the development of innovative bottle designs. The blow molder/filler blocks sold by KHS can now produce over 81,000 PET bottles per hour. Contact:
KHS GmbH
Juchostrasse 20, 44143 Dortmund, Germany
Phone: +49 231 569 0
presse@khs.com
www.khs.com 40 years of KHS Corpoplast: a specially developed logo will mark the various company activities throughout its anniversary year.
