Improved bottle drying helps win significant new customers

Tarka Springs was established in 2001. Initially, the company focused on establishing a market base in the West Country where they could achieve reliable distribution backed by good customer service, supplying primarily into the restaurant and retail markets.  This rapidly expanded to embrace internationally recognised organisations such as Cunard, Flybe, Vodafone and the RSC with own label still and sparkling water products.

To meet the standards expected by these large organisations, high quality product presentation is essential. A major element of this is product labeling, and efficient bottle drying is major requirement if this is to be achieved and maintained, especially for clear transparent labels to avoid both slippage and milky appearance.  The company had tried various bottle drying techniques based upon compressed air, both proprietary and in-house engineered solutions.

Line Requirements:

Throughput Speeds: 10,000 bph
PET Bottle Sizes:
Round or square ribbed, glass, screw top or sports drinker, 330ml or 1.5ltr

The Solution

The installation of a ‘RM’ (Remote Blower) Air Knife System, comprising a pair of air knives located on opposite sides of the bottling line powered by an ACI EP10A blower.

The Outcome

ACI’s system performs effectively and efficiently – drying costs have been reduced significantly as a result of switching from compressed air to blower power.

“I would not be without it.  Because of the drying efficiency of the ACI system, we and our customers can be sure that the labels always look right. I am certain this quality assurance has in fact helped us to win business we might not have otherwise got!” Neil Folland, Owner, Tarka Springs.

Visit the Tarka Springs website