KHS InnoPET Blomax Series IV stretch blow molder proves convincing

Georg Zuzok*

Jon Elward**

The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England (CCNNE) recently invested in the innovative KHS InnoPET Blomax Series IV stretch blow molder. This is a noteworthy event for the company, not least because for many decades it sourced all of its PET containers exclusively from the converter Southeastern Container and will now be making its PET bottles inline for the first time ever. John Palermo, the former vice-president of Operations at CCNNE and now  chairman of the supervisory board at Southeastern Container, is partly responsible for this decision. "CCNNE's investing in the InnoPET Blomax Series IV means much more than just buying a new machine. It also stands for a change of thought within the industry. To date the majority of PET bottles have been procured by the beverage industry in the USA from converters. However, I believe the future is in producing PET bottles on site, buying the preforms from the converters. Sure, the considerable energy and material savings the InnoPET Blomax Series IV makes, helping to specifically reduce PET bottle production costs at the plant, also play a great part in the industry now rethinking its previous policies." Rick Neal, head of the CCNNE production site in Londonderry, New Hampshire, says, "One of the big pluses of making PET bottles inline in my view is also that far fewer journeys are needed to transport preforms than to ship freshly produced PET bottles, again helping to cut spending and also reduce the impact on the environment. For instance, our new InnoPET Blomax Series IV with 28 cavities now makes approximately 1,800 truck deliveries a year superfluous."   

*Head of Market Zone Americas, KHS GmbH, Bad Kreuznach, Germany.

     Phone: +49 671 852 2202

**Head of Stretch Blow Molders, KHS USA, Inc., USA. Phone: +1 404 281 5552

Southeastern Container and Western Container supply Coca-Cola bottlers in the USA with PET bottles and preforms

It's usual in the USA for Coca-Cola bottlers to source their PET bottles or preforms from Southeastern Container or Western Container, depending on their location. Both converters were founded by a conglomerate of several Coca-Cola companies, with Western Container launched in 1979 and Southeastern Container in 1982. Western Container now has five production sites and Southeastern Container ten.

CCNNE fully owned by Kirin Holdings

CCNNE dates back to the year 1977 when Kirin Holdings from Japan bought shares in a small Coca-Cola bottling plant in New Hampshire and founded a company. After taking over a number of other Coca-Cola facilities this eventually became the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England. CCNNE is now fully owned by Kirin Holdings and part of its Overseas Beverages operation which clocks up 26.5% of sales. Other areas of business Kirin Holdings is involved in are the production of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for the Japanese market (with a 39% and 15.3% sales share respectively), pharmaceuticals and biochemicals (14.8% sales share) and various miscellaneous activities (4.4% sales share). 

28 million crates produced per year

The company formerly known as KW began production at a rate of just two million crates per year (an average crate holds 2.5 gallons which is about 9.5 liters), outputting approximately ten million crates per annum by the start of the 1980s. At its facilities in Londonderry CCNNE now produces 28 million crates (around 266 million liters) of alcohol-free beverages a year and currently holds fifth place among Coca-Cola bottlers in the USA.

Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Dasani are bestsellers

CCNNE bottles the full range of Coca-Cola brand beverages, the bestseller being Coca-Cola Classic (both then and now) with a share of about 22%. Hot on its heels in the selling stakes is Diet Coke at 18%, with bottled water Dasani in third place at the moment with 9% of the total sales share. The Coca-Cola brand products produced in Londonderry, packaged in around 200 different sales units, are sent out to nine distribution centers throughout New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut) and in the state of New York. The sales area covers about 85,000 square miles and is home to around 4.5 million people. Says Palermo, "We're seeing an increased sense of health consciousness in New England which is boosting the demand for low and zero-calorie soft drinks and water. At the moment we're making about 50% of our total sales in these segments alone."

Extensive range of PET bottles

In Londonderry Coca-Cola brand beverages are only filled into PET bottles (40%) and cans (60%), with glass not an issue here. The range of PET bottles in particular is very big, with all sizes catered for from the 300-milliliter to the 12, 16, 20 and 24-ounce to the 0.5, 1.0, 1.25 and 2.0-liter bottle (one ounce is about 0.03 liters). The 20-ounce and 2.0-liter bottle are especially popular in the PET segment.

One InnoPET Blomax Series IV supplies two lines

At CCNNE the InnoPET Blomax Series IV currently manufactures 12, 16 and 20-ounce and 0.5-liter bottles, supplying both PET lines. Neal says, "We now cover about 60% of our PET bottle requirements with the InnoPET Blomax Series IV. We're very pleased with the performance of our new stretch blow molder – as indeed we expected to be." 

KHS technology is a hallmark of quality

CCNNE's high expectations of innovative KHS stretch blow molding technology are based on decades of positive experience. As soon as the plant in Londonderry was finished in May 1989, one KHS filler and one KHS blender apiece began operation on both of the then new lines (one for cans and one for PET bottles). Neal states, "Both fillers and the blending equipment are still working to our fullest satisfaction – as are our other KHS Promix systems ordered almost 10 years ago – and operating perfectly in three-shift operation. This is undoubtedly thanks to KHS' outstanding technology and also to the good care we take of our plant engineering. For example, the same operator has been responsible for the canner from day one and he really looks after it. Identifying with a machine like this is crucial if you want excellent performance and a long life cycle, I think."

Full advance training a source of motivation

Convinced that operators who identify with 'their' machine have a considerable influence on its performance, CCNNE decided to have all those who would be jointly responsible for the new investment intensively trained by KHS before the new InnoPET Blomax Series IV was installed at the plant. CCNNE thus sent a team of seven to KHS Corpoplast in Hamburg, Germany, the center of the company's PET expertise. Here, the CCNNE delegates were familiarized with the features of the InnoPET Blomax Series IV in both theory and practice. Says Palermo, "Back in Londonderry our future operators could hardly wait for 'their' machine to arrive. When it finally came on site, they were extremely motivated in helping the KHS service engineers install and commission the stretch blow molder. You could really sense their excitement about the new technology! Based on this experience, too, I can only advise companies to invest in advance training sessions. In my view there's no better return on investment." Neal adds, "If you visit our plant today, you'll find a stretch blow molder that's very well looked after and can feel that our operators are still as proud of this gem as they were on the day it arrived. I think it's wonderful to see how this positive attitude to the stretch blow molder has persevered unabated to the present day." 

Quantum leap with the InnoPET Blomax Series IV

The InnoPET Blomax Series IV at CCNNE has 28 blow stations, each of which outputs up to 2,250 PET bottles per hour. The stretch blow molder produces bottles holding between 0.2 and 2 liters (this is standard) which gives CCNNE plenty of flexibility both now and in the future. Compared to the InnoPET Blomax Series III the Series IV has a number of additional benefits, including energy savings, less consumption of compressed air and materials, flexibility and a smaller footprint. "Before deciding on our new stretch blow molder," says Neal, "we visited the Silver Springs company which has both an InnoPET Blomax Series III and Series IV.  This made it very clear to us just how advantageous the new generation of machines is over the previous one and what a real quantum leap KHS has made with this new technology." Palermo adds, "I'd even like to go as far as to say here that the InnoPET Blomax Series IV is partly responsible for more and more beverage companies in the USA considering producing PET bottles inline – also because with it PET bottle production is much more economically viable than has been possible to date."

Heater area cuts energy consumption by up to 40%

One striking feature of the machine which helps reduce energy consumption is the heater area. With it, preform heating times are just about halved compared to the previous series. This also means that only half the former space is required for the heating module. In Series IV stretch blow molders preforms are heated by near infrared (NIR) or shortwave infrared radiation, the use of which results in an extremely intense heat penetration of the preform walls. This effect is heightened by the preforms being conveyed through an enclosed heating chamber with all-round reflection and the mandrels being very tightly spaced at just 37.7 mm (minimum pitch). All told, up to 40% in energy is saved compared to traditional heating technology with the newly conceived heater area.  Russ Brunner, plant engineer at CCNNE, says, "The short heater also ensures that only very few preforms have to be discarded if there's an emergency stop. I also see this as a clear plus." In addition, the amount of compressed air used by the InnoPET Blomax Series IV has also been improved on that of the previous generation; depending on the bottle size, up to 15% less compressed air is required. 

Output of up to 2,250 PET bottles per hour and blow station

Besides the heater area the staggered array of the blow stations on the new generation of KHS stretch blow molders also saves on space. In turn, this also means that the blow wheel diameter is smaller. This compact positioning is possible as only one half of the mold on each blow station is opened, with a toggle mechanism to open and close the blow stations. The mold carrier no longer has to be locked, resulting in less mechanical susceptibility and therefore higher machine efficiency. With the newly designed blow stations bottlers can also achieve higher outputs than in the past, with up to 2,250 PET bottles an hour being produced per station as opposed to 1,800. This gives the InnoPET Blomax Series IV at CCNNE a maximum capacity of 63,000 bottles an hour.

Servomotor-controlled stretching process

On the InnoPET Blomax Series IV the stretching process in the blow stations is controlled by servomotor, increasing the precision of bottle manufacture over the mechanical cam-controlled stretching process used in previous machines. Should the stretch blow molder run more slowly for any reason, the stretching motion can still be carried out at the same rate as at the higher machine speed thanks to the use of servotechnology. 

Optimized down to the last tenth of a gram of material

As a consequence, preforms can be optimized down to the last tenth of a gram of PET material. In comparison with the previous system, where a greater amount of PET material was needed to maintain the necessary PET bottle quality, this not only results in increased production safety but also in a specific saving in PET.

Outstanding bottle quality of great importance

Says Palermo, "The outstanding bottle qualities resulting in part from the use of up-to-the-minute servotechnology are of great importance to CCNNE. As for all companies belonging to Kirin Holdings, the motto at CCNNE is 'Quality above all else'." CCNNE has proved many times over that this motto is strictly adhered to within the company, with the company winning the Coca-Cola President's Award, the annual prize presented to the most quality-conscious Coca-Cola bottler in the USA, no fewer than eight times.  "This makes us the leader," smiles Palermo. "None of the other over 60 Coca-Cola bottlers in the USA has been awarded this certificate as often as CCNNE."

Very short changeovers

Another aspect of similarly high significance for CCNNE is the short time needed for changeovers with the InnoPET Blomax Series IV when swapping from one bottle variant to another. The use of servotechnology means that the stretch die neither has to be changed nor mechanically adjusted, with new settings communicated to the system by on-screen entry only. The molds are replaced in the blow stations very quickly thanks to their new design and the Speed-Loc quick-change system. On balance only about half the time needed on the previous machine generation is now taken up with changeovers. Back to Neal. "In the future we're planning on manufacturing more rather than fewer types of bottle on our stretch blow molder. This makes quick changeovers extremely important."

Another important point in this context is that once changeovers have been made on the machine, the start-up time is extremely short thanks to the very quick preform heating process. Where around two minutes previously elapsed before the first preheated preform entered the blow mold, now only 15 seconds are required. "This again boosts machine efficiency," states Neal. 

CCNNE profits in every respect

Palermo says, "All told, CCNNE profits in every respect from this extremely sustainable and flexible stretch blow molder which is easy to operate and cuts costs." Adds Neal, "There's just one criticism – which is directed at us and not the machine: we should have opted for the InnoPET Blomax Series IV much sooner!"

InnoPET Blomax Series IV also changing the attitude to inline PET bottle production on the US market

CCNNE first took note of the trend towards inline PET bottle production on the European market about ten years ago when Palermo and Neal visited a number of beverage operations in Europe and gathered valuable impressions and experience. Neal claims, "Even then I was impressed by how smooth PET bottle production was at the plants." Says Palermo, "On visiting the KHS booth at drinktec 2009 where the newly developed Series IV generation of stretch blow molders was on display it finally became clear to me that this machine has the ability to change the attitude to inline PET bottle production on the US market." Adds Neal, "What's also important for us is that this machine gives us a return on investment in just three years which to me is an excellent result. Should CCNNE expand its activities in the future (and there's plenty of room to do so on our Londonderry premises, which measure over 300,000 m2,) and thus realize a rise in sales of Coca-Cola brand products in PET bottles, I could clearly see us investing in a second InnoPET Blomax Series IV, as this generation of stretch blow molders has convinced us in all respects and clearly highlighted the benefits of inline bottle production." And that just about says it all.