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Le-Nature's looks west

In a sparkling new plant in Phoenix, this ambitious beverage maker produces PET preforms and blows its own bottles. Line 3 features an inline blow/fill approach.

LANE COMBINING. Printed film is applied in register (above) to a 24-count tray of bottles. Three lanes of freshly blown bottles
LANE COMBINING. Printed film is applied in register (above) to a 24-count tray of bottles. Three lanes of freshly blown bottles

With 550ꯠ sq' of floor space—350ꯠ sq' of it occupied by package making and packaging—the new Phoenix plant built by Le-Nature's Inc. is just what this Latrobe, PA-based beverage firm needed to break into western markets in a big way.

“Shipments to the western U.S. were greatly limited until now,” says chief operating officer Jonathan Podlucky. “The Phoenix plant will change that.”

The investment in packaging-related equipment at Phoenix is impressive:

• seven blow-molding machines churning out PET bottles in sizes from 8-oz to 1-L

• five injection-molding machines for in-house manufacturing of PET preforms

• four PET bottling lines handling Le-Nature's assortment of flavored or enhanced waters, sports drinks, fitness waters, teas, juices, and other New Age beverages

A good feel for the way things run at the Phoenix plant can be gained by looking at Line 3. Used primarily for water, it can also run carbonated soft drinks. It handles 24-oz, 1⁄2-L, and 1-L bottles.

At the head of the line are two Contiform stretch/blow-molding machines—one a 16-station system and the other 24—supplied by Krones (www.krones.de). That firm was charged with turnkey responsibility for blow molding and packaging, and a whole lot of Krones equipment is seen throughout Le-Nature's packaging hall.

“In a greenfield plant like this, we needed a machinery supplier vertically integrated enough to capably handle a huge project,” says Podlucky. “We felt Krones was that company, and we've been very pleased with the results. Naturally, there were bumps along the way. But I've been involved in much smaller projects that didn't go nearly as smoothly as this one.”

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