After hearing and taking advantage of sidel’s ‘options & upgrades’ programme, romanian producer mineral quantum has made significant savings by implementing alterations to its existing pet bottling li

25/11/13

The recent changes have achievedsavings of 45% in the consumption of electricity, 20% in the use ofcompressed air and significant reductions in the use of rawPET.

The bigger the output, the greater thesavings

Quantum Mineral Trading Company Ltd wasfounded in Romania in 1997 and began production as a privatecompany in December, 1998.  The company owns and operates twomineral water springs (FH1 and FH2M) in the Harghita Mountains withsignificant artesian flow.  Using the brand name 'SpringHarghita', the company bottles natural mineral water and partiallycarbonated natural mineral water from the volcanic mountainrange.  Three existing production lines originally comprisedone Sidel Universal SBO6 and three SBO2F PET blow-mouldingmachines.  The company has a daily production capacity - inPET formats ranging from 0.5 litres to 5 litres - totalling over 1million litres.  With such a large output, it was naturallyvery interested in any potential savings.

Reduced costs and greater productionflexibility

After Quantum Mineral managers attended aSidel Value Creation Day held in Poiana Brasov, the popularRomanian ski resort and tourist centre, they entered intodiscussions with the supplier in earnest.  As a globalsolutions provider for PET, can and glass, Sidel offers new andexisting customers bottling solutions tailored to their individualneeds.  Its Options & Upgrades (O&U) programme allowscustomers with existing lines to put into effect and benefit fromthe latest breakthroughs in packaging technology. Implementation often results in increased uptime, lower operationalcosts and greater flexibility. 'Options' are all about adding newfunctionalities and 'Upgrades' generally involve improvements toexisting functions by leveraging the latest technologicaladvances.  The discussions between Quantum Mineral and Sidelresulted in the decision to replace the existing ovens in theproduction lines with the more economical Ecoven to cut down on theuse of power.  It was also decided to adapt the existingbottle design of all the products and formats to reduce the use ofraw material.

Gabor Karikas, Technical Manager of QuantumMineral Trading Company, said: "We decided to work with Sidel inorder to continue our collaboration with experienced people. Thanks to our continual contact with Sidel's Customer ServicesManager - and our participation in the Value Creation Day in PoianaBrasov - we decided to develop our 'Short Neck Project'." Neck shortening in the design of PET bottles is a valuabletechnology that has already provided many companies withsignificant benefits. It offers the potential for tremendouseconomic gains and reduces post-consumer waste.  It does so byachieving material reductions in preforms, bottles and caps.

Shorter necks and more efficientovens

Keeping exactly the same bottle design andspecification, it was decided to change the existing standard 1810closure to an 1881 closure.  This resulted in material savingsfor Quantum Mineral of 1.5 gram on all four formats: 0.5 litre; 1.5litre; 2 litres and 2.5 litres.  In addition to the costsavings, the reduction in raw materials and waste has also had apositive effect in environmental terms.  However, there hasbeen no compromise on the bottles' mechanical properties due totesting designed to optimise bottle performance while preventingdeformation during use by the consumer.  During the changeoverin the design of the bottles' necks, the simultaneous installationof a highly efficient Sidel Ecoven in each of the three QuantumMineral production lines reduced oven consumption of electricalpower by an impressive 45%.  Yet the lines' process capabilitywas fully maintained.

Requiring fewer heating modules and lamps, theinstalled Ecoven reduces preform-heating time and uses theinstalled power more efficiently.  Savings on compressed airconsumption compared with the previous generation of blow-moulders,will also make a difference in Quantum Mineral's Total Cost ofOwnership (TCO).

Greater customer flexibility andsecurity

Sidel's Options & Upgrades portfolio hasbeen developed with the aim of making the company's equipmentevolve in a simpler way, as upgrades will be anticipated andplanned for from the outset.  In addition to tailoredsolutions, Sidel offers several standard upgrades to meetcustomers' most common needs: performance, hygiene and safety,flexibility, maintenance, functionality, savings and process. This gives customers greater flexibility and the security that theyare investing in technologies that they will be able to update.

Technical Manager, Gabor Karikas, concluded:"We collaborated well throughout the process and had a good dailyrelationship with Sidel - in whom we had real confidence.  Ibelieve this was down to the experience of bothteams."  

Press release to download.

HD pictures to download.