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Square minis shake up a bottling line

When UDV began bottling two new brands of schnapps in its Toronto plant, the square bottle called for new labeling technology.

Top photo shows the labeling station that applies labels to the square PET bottles. A spring-mounted overhead conveyor (above) h
Top photo shows the labeling station that applies labels to the square PET bottles. A spring-mounted overhead conveyor (above) h

Imported from Europe beginning a few years ago, Rumple Minze® and Black Haus® brands of schnapps from Stamford, CT-based United Distillers and Vintners quickly established a loyal following. As sales in the U.S. continued to climb, it soon made sense to produce and package these spirits in North America rather than bottle them in Europe and ship them across the ocean.

In the case of 50-mL miniatures in polyethylene terephthalate, bottling of the new brands for the U.S. market was shifted to UDV’s Toronto facility, where a line dedicated to 50-mL sizes handles a variety of the company’s well-known brands. An essential first step, however, was the installation of a new labeler. The primary driver behind the new labeler was the simple fact that both Rumple Minze and Black Haus are marketed in square, not round, bottles. The 50-mL line’s labeler in the Toronto plant was designed exclusively to handle round bottles.

“The pressure-sensitive labeler we had at the time wouldn’t handle a square bottle,” says Bruce Loveless, maintenance project manager at the Toronto plant. “Especially challenging is the shape of the Black Haus label. The top is pointed, so if that point is even the least bit off center, it shows clearly and the bottle looks bad.”

Speed was another issue. “The old labeler wouldn’t run any faster than 180 bottles per minute,” says Loveless. “We run the new one at 250, and it’s capable of more.” UDV will have a chance to take advantage of those higher speeds when downstream equipment is upgraded later this year.

Three-panel label

Loveless says that when he was shown the three-panel label designed for the square miniatures, he was convinced that only a rotary labeler would be capable of handling such a challenging application at acceptable speeds. “But,” he explains, “we didn’t have much floor space available, and a rotary labeler has a large footprint. So when we learned that an in-line labeler was out there that would do what we needed, we were definitely interested.”

The labeler he is referring to is the Combo system from Labelling Technologies (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada). UDV installed it last September after buying it through Manuel Automated Packaging (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), a local equipment distributor.

“To get the speed, accuracy and reliability we needed, we expected to pay twice what we paid for this labeler,” says Loveless. He’s quick to point out, however, that the machine has important benefits beyond its affordability. For one thing, the servo motors that drive the machine are readily available from inventory at any industrial supply shop, says Loveless. He emphasizes that UDV hasn’t had to replace any servos yet, but he says it’s good to know how accessible they are.

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