Bottle drying helps promote product awareness goals

The Problem

At the time of supplying CCE, their Wakefield plant was the largest bottling plant in the world.  A new labelling process was required to cope with a new bottle shape that had been introduced for bottles of Schweppes tonic water.

Originally, straight wall bottles with conventional wrap-around plastic labels were used but these were not compatible with the new bottle configuration so different options had to be explored by CCE and Krones UK, supplier of the bottling line. Shrinkable plastic sleeves were a consideration, but system complexity and material costs quickly eliminated this idea.  However, another plastic shrinkable labelling system, ROSO (Roll-on Shrink-on), did provide the solution. However, this label also imposed its own demands, in particular an absolutely dry bottle to ensure blemish free application.

Line Requirement

Throughput Speeds: 20,000bph
PET Bottle sizes: 1 and 1.25 litres contoured bottles, and 1.5, 2 and 3 litres straight walled bottles

The Solution

CCE asked ACI to initially install its DRI-Line LNL System, fitted with Jetplates, for a four week evaluation period. Once proven the system was officially commissioned and remains in operation, meeting the daily demands of CCE.

The Outcome

“The ACI DRI-Line has matched up to all our demands. 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.” David Hunt, Product Specialist, Krones UK.

Solutions For Packaging & Labelling

Our range of bottle and can drying systems helps to ensure that today’s ground breaking labelling and packaging technology is not compromised by any surface water used in the packaging process.