ACI is the Global Leader in the design and supply of bottle and can drying systems. Our customers include most of the World's principal OEMs of turnkey filling lines as well as the leading producers and fillers of brand names in the international Food and Beverage Industry.
Money saved plus more efficient can/bottle drying for Türk Tuborg
Financial savings combined with ensured consistent and accurate labelling were the chief drivers for the Türk Tuborg filling operation in Izmir, Turkey installing new can and bottle drying systems. The drying systems were installed as retrofit units to replace compressed air jets and heated tunnels, and are reported to be achieving significant savings whilst also helping to avoid the problem of label slippage resulting from inefficiently dried bottles.
The can and bottle drying machines are from Air Control Industries (ACI) and were supplied by the company’s Turkish distributor, Yük. Müh. Nihat Kagnici, Sanayi Müsavirligi ve Mümessilligi. The principal reason for the substantial cost savings is the fact the ACI units are all blower powered, a more cost-effective and cleaner way of delivering air for drying bottles and cans.
“The ACI drying systems are working very well and the support has been excellent, both from ACI and Nihat Kagnici,” said Arda Sengöz, Packaging Engineer. “What’s more, we are saving money. The compressed air systems and heating tunnel were much more expensive to run and maintain so we expect a rapid payback on our investment.”
!nBev goes dry and boosts efficiency
Economics and higher efficiency are the key factors that underline the success of ACI’s bottle and can drying systems installed at !nBev’s plants in Magor (South Wales) and Leuven in Belgium.
Handling lines speeds of up to 55,000 bottles/hr and 80,000 cans/hr the ACI systems offer an increase in performance ranging from 33% up to 75% over the original compressed air systems.
In addition, !nBev also benefits from significant financial savings resulting directly from a reduction in operating costs. These come from substantial energy savings (compressed air), less maintenance and around a 50% reduction in the volume of label adhesive used. All of which contribute to a return on investment in a matter of months.
Further, the efficient drying ensures that the inkjet codes are always clear, because the surface is dry. Yet another cost and quality advantage is the prevention of moisture reaching the packaging stage.
“When I showed the figures for the savings there was no argument about the installing the ACI bottle and can drying systems”, said Bart Simonet, Packaging Manager at !nBev, Leuven. “The agreement was immediate.”
Seeing Fosters' Labels Clearly
New branding for the company’s ‘Carlton Cold’ beer involving a new distinctive label has resulted in Foster’s Australia Yatala Brewery(QLD) and Abbotsford Brewery(VIC) upgrading their bottling lines to handle pressure sensitive labels.
With the labels being clear plastic, the Carlton Cold bottles have to be 100% dry to avoid any risk of moisture entrapment and label disfigurement. Yet the high drying efficiency required must not reduce the original production speed capacity of 1000 bottles/minute with wet glue labels, in fact the goal was ultimately to have an increased capacity.
The answer was ACI’s blower-powered ‘JetPlate’ drying systems supplied by Australian distributor, Dynamic Engineering Australia, Perth - and it cost a third less than other options considered and a third of the foot-print.
“Performance, safety, space, cost and maintenance are all major considerations when evaluating a new system”, said Michael Pecar, Senior Project Engineer at Foster’s Australia. “In each respect, the ACI JetPlate is superior to other options considered”. His colleague Geoff Gould, Site Services Manager added that he could not understand why anybody would think about buying anything else!
Success for CCE's New Bottle and 'ROSO' Labelling Ensured
In the fast-moving FMCG market product awareness is king. A differentiating factor enhances that customer awareness helping to reinforce the product’s visibility. Frequently, this involves a make-over of the product’s packaging and presentation.
One such example is the new 1 litre and 1.25 litre contoured bottles of Schweppes’ tonic water, Russian, Ginger Ale and other sparkling mixers bottled at Coca-Cola Enterprises’ (CCE) Wakefield bottling plant, where ACI’s drying system are playing an essential role in helping the company meet its labelling objectives.
CCE and Krones UK, supplier of the bottling line discounted other labels in favour of ROSO (Roll-on Shrink-on) plastic shrinkable labelling system. These labels demand absolutely dry bottles and ACI’s ‘JetPlate’ system achieved that, ensuring complete labelling perfection.
“The ACI DRI-Line has matched up to all our demands,” said David Hunt, Product Specialist, Krones UK. “It dries the bottles effectively, can handle both the new and old bottle designs with no adjustment and it is extremely reliable thanks to its simple yet effective design.”
Airknives Blow Away Labelling Problems for Microbrewery to Boost Output
Faced with increasing demand – from home and overseas - the award winning microbrewery, O’Hanlon’s Brewery of Devon needed to increase output. Production of the company’s beers, ales and stouts was not a problem but getting the product out of the door was.
The inhibiting factor was O’Hanlon’s bottling/labelling operation. For O’Hanlon’s condensation caused delays in the labelling because frequently filled bottles had to be left to dry before labels could be applied. This limited production to around 2700 bottles/day.
Another issue arising from condensation and exacerbating time delays was double handling. Bottles once filled were sometimes removed from the filling/labelling line and then reintroduced when dry to proceed through the labelling machine.
However, the problems caused by condensation are no longer an issue for O’Hanlon’s Brewery. They have been eliminated following the installation of a pair of ‘Airknives’ supplied by Air Control Industries of Chard.
“ACI’s Airknives do exactly what it says on the tin – they dry the bottles”! commented Liz O’Hanlon, Director. “They are easy to install, easy to operate and simple to maintain, which is important for a small brewery like ours with supermarkets and international outlets as customers.”
Brewer Demands Dairy Hygiene Standards
A speciality of Bitburger Braugruppe (Germany) is the brewing of non-pasteurised Pils beer and this calls for the highest hygiene standards.
One precaution the company takes to achieve these standards is to minimise the presence of crevices and projections on machinery that could serve as catchment zones and create possible contamination risks.
ACI has supplied a bottle drying system built specially to comply with these high standards.
The bottle dryer is low-noise, high through-put unit that has been adapted to meet these demanding hygiene requirements. All meeting surfaces have seamless welded joins in order to facilitate cleaning and eliminate bacteria build up.
In addition, the housing for the blower (ACI’s EP10A) is mounted on top of the dryer. This is to permit easy cleaning under the dryer.
According to Dr Johannes Hankes, Department manager, the ACI bottle dryer is installed on a line that replaces two previous ones and handles a throughput of 50,000 bottles/hr. He also said that the dryer provided a cost-effective solution compared to other options.
Greater Efficiency and Quieter Operation for Glaxosmithkline
An aseptic bottling line at GlaxoSmithKline’s Coleford factory has been upgraded recently with a new enclosed ‘JetPlate’ bottle drying system from ACI that has proven to be more efficient and quieter than its predecessor.
Handling 330 and 500ml PET bottles of Ribena, Hydro Active and Lucozade Sport at line speeds ranging from 300-600 bottles/min, it replaces a configuration of simple airknives.
Principle reasons for the airknives failure were difficulty in ensuring correct setup for different bottle types and following cleaning/maintenance, noise and containment of moisture.
Unlike airknives, ACI’s JetPlate requires no adjustment after installation. Further, air flow is designed to ensure water and spray is driven downwards to prevent possible product re-contamination. Finally, The JetPlate system is housed in a compact enclosure (1500 x 950 mm footprint) which serves to reduce noise levels and help contain airborne moisture.
According to Andrew Markey, Product Stream Support Engineer, the ACI JetPlate bottle drying system has improved the bottle drying significantly, providing consistent results which benefits the down-line operations of label application and product coding.
Drying System Enhances Label Quality
Kingsland Wines & Spirits Ltd, the UK’s largest independent bottler of wines and spirits, is now able to offer it’s customers a wider range of options for their label designs through the extensive investment in self-adhesive labeller technology.
Part of that investment is new ACI ‘JetPlate’ drying system to maximise the quality of the label application.
Any condensation or water that accumulates on the outside of the bottle prior to labelling can have an adverse effect on the label application quality as it prevents the label from adhering to the bottle.
“The ACI system works very efficiently” says Nigel Smith, Company Engineering Manager. “It provides significant benefits enabling us to enhance our services to customers which include many leading high street retailers.”
JetPlate’s air flow is designed to ensure water and spray is driven downwards to prevent possible re-contamination.
The JetPlate’s plenums are simple to adjust to suit different bottle sizes with no risk of incorrect positioning and consequent inefficient drying.
Air Control Industries Ltd Silver Street, Chard, Somerset, TA20 2AE, UK -- Tel: UK 0845 5000 501 | ROW +44 1460 67171 | Fax: +44(0)845 5000 502-- -- Email: sales@aircontrolindustries.com
ACI supplies industrial fans, axial fans, air blowers, centrifugal blowers, centrifugal fans, air knives and nozzles. We also supply ebm papst products.
