Bottle inspection system

Bottles are blow-molded on Krones Contiform machines at the Kings Park plant at speeds of 45 bottles/hr. Frequent changeovers are required to produce various bottle sizes and shapes for Visy’s diverse customers which produce soft drinks juice water and alcoholic beverages.

Visy’s bottle processing speeds volumes and varieties offer little margin for error. To further complicate production seasonal temperature and humidity changes can stress PET materials. Mark Schierhuber manufacturing operations manager notes “The opportunity to make a lot of rubbish very quickly is right there all the time nipping at your heels.”

To enhance quality control Visy installed a PETWallplus® bottle monitoring and inspection system from Agr TopWave inside each blowmolding machine. The compact camera-based systems monitor processing functions and detect deviations in material distribution throughout the bottle structure.

Schierhuber explains “In the past it would take some time—during which thousands of nonforming bottles might be made—to determine the impact of an adjustment to machine conditions. This equipment has taken out the guesswork. Quality is absolutely paramount in the Visy Pak organization and the PETWallplus gives us a lot of peace of mind.”