ACI Air Movement Products are used in a vast array of industries and applications.
Featured here are a number of examples of how our equipment has been employed.
Swan Brewery
With its compressed air systems stretched to their limits, Lion Nathan - Swan Brewery Company Pty, Canning Vale, Western Australia, needed to explore alternative, faster drying methods for its bottling and canning lines.
Before looking at options to increase compressed air capacity, Swan reviewed its existing system to determine if there were means to reduce usage. It was found that one of the most significant demands on the system was the air blowers used to dry bottles and cans before labelling and inkjet coding.
After reviewing a number of powered air drying systems it was decided to adopt a system proposed by ACI’s Australian agent, Dynamic Engineering, which utilises their blower-powered, high-speed ‘JetPlate’ bottle drying system and two of the company’s high-speed can drying tunnels.
“Both the bottle and can drying lines are performing well”, said Steve Allison, Packing Development Engineer, at the Swan Brewery, Canning Vale plant. “Initially we had some reservations whether or not there would be enough air and heat to achieve effective drying. However, we have found that there is ample air flow and heat generated without the need to add a secondary heat source, saving us money.”
Inbev
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 installing the ACI bottle and can drying systems”, said Bart Simonet, Packaging Manager at !nBev, Leuven. “The agreement was immediate.”
Fosters
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!
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.
Kingsland Wines
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.
CCE (Coca Cola Enterprises)
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.
Air Control Industries Inc. 76 Augusta Rockland Road, Windsor, Maine, 04363, USA -- Tel: 207-445-2518 |
Fax: 207-445-2497
ACI supplies industrial fans, axial fans, air blowers, centrifugal blowers, centrifugal fans, air knives and nozzles. We also supply ebm papst products.
