From pharmaceutical niche product to established coating technology for the beverage industry
The FreshSafe PET® success story: what started out in the 1990s as an application for the pharmaceutical industry is now an established coating technology for PET bottles
(PresseBox) - With its Plasmax coating technology and the FreshSafe PET this extraordinary story of success come about?
When Bernd-Thomas Kempa, who has been in charge of Sales & Service since 2012 and is now head of Plasmax Barrier Technology Global Account Management, and Dr. Joachim Konrad, who has been responsible for engineering as director of Plasmax Barrier Technology since 2014 and is now head of the Large Machine Product Division at KHS, talk about the history of FreshSafe PETstem for the food and beverage industries.
The story of FreshSafe PETass ceramics with that of a packaging producer and engineering company for the processing of plastics. Schott AG?s portfolio also included a glass coating which was applied to the insides of glass containers as a supplemental layer. ?This protected highly sensitive pharmaceutical products from substance migration,? explains Kempa.
Challenges for customers and KHS
During the course of the joint venture a prototype of the first generation of Plasmax machines was developed and in 2002 the first Plasmax machine was tested in Switzerland with an output of 10,000 bottles per hour. Plasmax was also granted regulatory approval for use in the food industry in Europe, the USA and Japan. Two Plasmax 12D machines were then shipped to Japan for the protective packaging of sensitive, top-quality products. In 2006 Eckes-Granini was the first European fruit juice company to go to market using this technology. ?The constant aim of development was and still is to integrate just one machine which satisfies bottling plant conditions and meets customer expectations,? says Kempa. System availability in particular had to be at an established level typical of the industry from the very start. ?Looking at our success now and at the growing demand for this machine, we can say that it was worth it. We still nurture a certain start-up mentality in the team, though,? adds Konrad.
?With the dissolution of the joint venture and the takeover of Plasmax technology by KHS in 2008 we were given plenty of backing. However, as part of a global enterprise our small team was also required to prove that this technology could be just as sustainable in the beverage industry environment,? Kempa states. ?Without the support of KHS and our parent company Salzgitter AG it wouldn?t have been possible to successfully transform this technology and break even. Success would have been equally lacking had we not had the special way of working together we still foster, with plenty of team spirit and great willingness shown by all members of the team,? he adds.
This support and sense of trust also increased among the company?s customers: alongside other machine sales in 2010 the prototype of the larger second generation of Plasmax coating machines went to Eckes with a capacity of up to 27,500 1.0-liter bottles an hour. In 2014 the company procured the world?s first FreshSafe block for its plant in Fallingbostel, a system blocked with a KHS stretch blow molder which produces a maximum of 32,000 0.75-liter bottles every 60 minutes. ?KHS enjoys a trusting partnership with Eckes-Granini which goes back several decades where systems can be implemented to the benefit of both parties. This enabled Eckes to recognize the potential offered by a more sophisticated style of PET packaging very early on, for example, giving them optimum protection for their sensitive beverages,? says Kempa.
Plasmax portfolio continuously expanded
?Eckes-Granini saw the opportunities rather than the possible snags and was open to new developments and processes. We mustn?t forget that to start with this was new territory for all involved,? Konrad explains. Both parties profited from what was learned during the intensive partnership, helping to optimize innovative processes with regard to practical use and come up with totally new solutions. In this way Plasmax has steadily expanded its range of products over the years. The machine manufacturer now supplies not just its standard coating machine and the InnoPET FreshSafe block but also a Plasmax 2Q/4Q for the low-performance range and an InnoPET FreshSafe TriBlock with a stretch blow molder and filler/capper combination which can produce up to 48,000 bottles an hour. ?FreshSafe PET
The company?s success corroborates this: the interest shown by the beverage industry in FreshSafe PETm and bottle design to the customer?s production options ? were integrated into our search for the optimum solution. This was the breakthrough for us in the beverage sector,? Konrad exclaims.
Key factor for environmental protection
Several factors play a role when a customer makes his or her decision to buy. With FreshSafe PETpecially for bottlers whose products have to travel long distances. Furthermore, the wafer-thin layer of glass reliably protects sensitive products against loss of freshness and quality, thus making a considerable contribution to the protection of the environment. ?The more reliable the product protection, the lower the amount of food wasted,? says Konrad. This barrier technology is also suitable for coating PET bottles made of recyclate (rPET) and for biodegradable containers.
Kempa and Konrad believe that the key factor for environmental protection is not just weight reduction but also the full recyclability of FreshSafe PET others. In the face of the growing demand across the globe for clean recycling systems this is a crucial aspect, claims Kempa. ?Customers and the public are increasingly calling for environmentally-friendly packaging systems; a product is only successful when it solves a relevant problem. With Fres
Less use of materials cuts costs
In addition to environmental aspects and the protection of the product economy is also important. By using KHS technology bottles weigh less than those which contain additives, in turn cutting down on the amount of material required and thus saving on costs. Moreover, bottlers can also switch to using less expensive standard PET preforms, again reducing the cost per bottle.
?All of these factors have helped FreshSafe PETto further reduce our carbon footprint. KHS is contributing by having less food go to waste as it?s packaged in an optimized type of container.?
1. The Association of Plastic Recyclers is a North American trade association which strongly advocates the recycling of all post-consumer plastic packaging. To this end the association draws up design guidelines, for example, and recognizes packaging design innovations which meet its stringent guiding principles governing recyclability, among other criteria.
2. The European PET Bottle Platform is a voluntary industry initiative that provides PET bottle design guidelines for recycling.
The KHS Group is one of the leading manufacturers of filling and packaging systems for the beverage and liquid food industries. The KHS Group includes the following companies: KHS GmbH, KHS Corpoplast GmbH and numerous subsidiaries outside Germany, located in Ahmedabad (India), Sarasota and Waukesha (USA), Zinacantepec (Mexico), S
KHS manufactures modern filling and packaging systems for the high-capacity range at its headquarters in Dortmund, Germany, and at its factories in Bad Kreuznach, Kleve, Worms and Hamburg, where the group''s PET expertise is pooled. The KHS Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of the SDAX-listed Salzgitter AG corporation. In 2018 the KHS Group and its 5,081 employees achieved a turnover of around ?1.161 billion.
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The KHS Group is one of the leading manufacturers of filling and packaging systems for the beverage and liquid food industries. The KHS Group includes the following companies: KHS GmbH, KHS Corpoplast GmbH and numerous subsidiaries outside Germany, located in Ahmedabad (India), Sarasota and Waukesha (USA), Zinacantepec (Mexico), São Paulo (Brazil) and Suzhou (China).KHS manufactures modern filling and packaging systems for the high-capacity range at its headquarters in Dortmund, Germany, and at its factories in Bad Kreuznach, Kleve, Worms and Hamburg, where the group''s PET expertise is pooled. The KHS Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of the SDAX-listed Salzgitter AG corporation. In 2018 the KHS Group and its 5,081 employees achieved a turnover of around?1.161 billion.
Datum: 02.04.2020 - 04:05 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
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