Sacmi, Mitaca partner for drink pods

A PARTNER of Illycaffè and a specialist in designing and marketing expresso coffee and other drink pod systems, Mitaca is working with Sacmi for the manufacture of new and improved pods.

A provider of pod systems for offices and large businesses, Mitaca chose Sacmi technology for its process linearity and high productivity, and a system that allows total quality control of every single pod. It had two Sacmi-developed CCM 32-cavity compression presses installed.

Mitaca, which is based in Milan, has since 2008, supported Illycaffè in developing this particular segment in Italy and in international markets.

Key advantages enjoyed by Mitaca with respect to traditional alternatives (such as injection) include halved cycle times for the MPS product (3.2 seconds with the supplied CCM32MB solution) and high productivity rates of around 600 pcs/min.

Sacmi compression moulding machine

Lighter pods (just 2.15 grams) have been made possible by, among other things, the intrinsic advantages of this technology: plastic extrusion at lower fluidity indexes, at lower temperatures and with accurate, fully independent control of each individual cavity consequently eliminating scrap.

The Sacmi machine ensures improved thickness control of the pod bottom, allowing maximum repeatability of “opening performance” over time and guarantees the hermetic seal of every single pod. This is made possible by the movement of the dose in a more viscous state.

Finally, the production process is simpler and repeatable thanks to the absence (with respect to the alternative technology) of the heat chamber.

Mitaca, which for some years now has decided to take a more aggressive stance on the drink pod system production market, has drawn further strategic advantages from its partnership with Sacmi, a key one being the ability to develop solutions right from the start by working in close collaboration with the Sacmi Group R&D Center to ensure optimum product quality and design.