Future-proof packaging line

Sidel’s new packaging solution bundles safety, low-operating costs and a means to improve a company’s environmental footprint

THE NEW packaging line, Sidel Matrix, has been developed as a radical, modular generation of PET bottling equipment. This model, according to the company, is its most powerful set of solutions yet in terms of performance, flexibility, cost savings and sustainability. The upgradeable system ensures product safety and quality with a very high standard of hygiene. The optimally-proportioned equipment has been configured to provide increased production capacity for various beverages. All these improvements were applied to meet the continuously growing demand in world consumption.

The Sidel Matrix is built on a hygienic concept, compliant therefore with a number of hygiene design standards. Its significant advances are also positioned as having the necessary simplicity of operation as well as providing flexible, ergonomic and efficient production. Its optimum productivity comes with the promise of reduced maintenance, not to mention the claim of cost-efficiency and sustainable production as an environmentally-friendly solution that could lower energy and material usage. The new design claims to employ the latest proven technologies and large-configuration possibilities which would make it possible to more closely match individual production needs.
The system includes blowers, fillers, Combi and labellers complete with several options and upgrades already made available to address changing needs.

Modular, flexible blower
With over 50 years’ expertise in blow-moulding, Sidel has installed nearly 5,600 blowers globally, and has one of the widest portfolios of blow-moulders successful in the market. The new Sidel Matrix blower expands the portfolio’s reputation with its ability to produce as many as 2,250 bottles per mould per hour. The blower has a modular architecture that should enable easy and flexible configurability. There are three times more configurations available, surpassing current industry standards. Furthermore, these configurations can be adapted to individual beverage industry requirements.

The blower has three sizes of blowing stations that make it possible to produce different bottle shapes in sizes ranging from 0.1 to 3.5 litres. Increased heating yield in the Ecoven and electrical stretching provide better material distribution and a more consistent process meant to ensure package integrity and consistency. In the blowing process, a unique neck protection combines with an embedded intelligence for bottle quality control and self-regulation, to minimise the standard deviation of the bottle blown, thus automatically reducing scrap.

The new blower benefits from quick and easy assisted-mould-changeovers between formats: less than 15 minutes bottle-to-bottle by a single operator through Sidel’s Bottle Switch system placed on a 20-cavity machine. Downtime and manual labour costs are therefore reduced and more bottles are ultimately produced in less time.

The installed Ecoven also requires fewer heating modules and lamps, so it reduces preform-heating time and cuts electrical consumption by up to 45% without sacrificing the system’s required high process capability. Savings on compressed air consumption, meanwhile, can reach up to 35% compared with previous Sidel generations, and being built with grease-free components and fewer mechanical parts the blower now requires significantly less maintenance.

Filler design focused on hygiene
These fillers are designed with a particular focus on hygiene for both still and carbonated beverages. Here, quality ofAir Jordan XXXI Low