Serac wins award for on-site bottle manufacturing technology

COMMENDING its thermoforming technology, the 9th Global Dairy Congress awarded Serac the World Dairy Innovation Award 2015 in the Manufacturing/Process Innovation category.

The company’s Roll N Blow machines, which enable the production of bottles using PS and PP reels, was recognized by the entire dairy industry as a breakthrough solution for on-site bottle manufacturing. A reflection of the firm’s commitment to smart packaging solutions, Roll N Blow produces bottles from plastic sheet reels similar to the manufacture of yoghurt cups. It departs from the conventional flat process of carrying out thermoforming and instead adopts a vertical approach that forms the plastic sheet into a tube before heating it and blowing into a mold.

The machines are ideal for small and medium-sized production series, according to Serac. They are less expensive than extrusion or stretch blow molding units, and have low energy consumption and plastic weight per bottle. In addition to being easily started and shut down to accommodate filling constraints, they are space-saving because the bottles go directly to the filling machine, eliminating the need for storage tanks and unscramblers.   

Further, the machines are versatile, and can support PP or PS as raw material. They can allow for the production of bottles out of preprinted plastic sheets with no sleeves required. They can output various possible designs, shapes, and appearances, and standard and calibrated necks.

The process requires few plastic processing skills compared with extrusion or stretch blow molding. A uniform distribution of the material is also ensured through the use of plastic sheet and without the need to monitor advanced heating and blowing process parameters.