Filling, Capping & Closing: Page 67

Conveying & accumulation

Packaging machines speak up

Amway squeezes more efficiency out of a personal care packaging line by allowing packaging machines to communicate with one another over a PLC network. Benefits include tighter line integration, faster troubleshooting and reduced wiring costs.

January 31, 1998

Tamper-evident machinery

Servo control offers labeling latitude (sidebar)

This is the story of the in-line capper that almost got away. When the Nutrilite Div. of Amway Corp. wanted to double the speed of its vitamin packaging line, management was leaning toward a rotary capper.

December 31, 1997

Conveying & accumulation

Putting the pressure on faster filling

A unique feeding system on Sweet Ripe Drinks' new pressure filler permits 750-bpm speeds with less glass breakage, higher accuracy and 15-minute changeover.

December 31, 1997

Conveying & accumulation

Grace-and speed-under pressure

Amway's new pressure-netweigh filler increases speed and accuracy for viscous personal care products. Unscrambler offers gentle handling, cuts down on jams and provides 15-minute changeover.

December 31, 1997

Bag/pouch fill/seal (pre-made bags)

Vf/f/s percolates at S&D Coffee

To meet the growing sales demands of its foodservice and institutional customers, this Concord, NC, roaster fills ground coffee into a paper filter bag then overwraps between one and five bags in plastic film on the same machine. Strong sales help S&D reap a six-month payback on the unusual machine.

November 30, 1997

Converting equipment

HDPE-based Tropicana bottles project fresh, 'local dairy' image

In the first stage of a national roll-out, coextrusion blow-molded bottles for Tropicana FruitWise smoothies are finding a place in the refrigerated cases of supermarkets in Cleveland and several other markets.

November 30, 1997

Conveying & accumulation

Shaped 'can' rewrites packaging line rules (sidebar)

Shrink labelers make their North American debut

October 31, 1997

Flexible packaging

'Alternative' packs milk sales

In an effort to recapture market share lost to rival beverages, milk processors are turning to more contemporary containers-with strong sales results.

October 31, 1997

Conveying & accumulation

Seagram salutes the end of tweaking

Seagram combines two bottling lines into one medium-speed line for a broad variety of spirits in glass bottles. Quick-change parts for cleaning, filling, capping and conveying equipment reduce downtime and labor costs.

October 31, 1997

Conveying & accumulation

Shaped 'can' rewrites packaging line rules

Several unorthodoxies on the filling line make it possible for this soft, squeezable, straight-walled polypropylene container to resist paneling after hot-filling. Also new is a first-of-its-kind on-line shrink label application in a bottling plant.

October 31, 1997

Filling/capping, liquid & viscous

Britvic banks on being different

This UK beverage marketer was a pioneer in aseptically filled PET bottles. Other ambitious packages include matte-black coated glass for on-premise sales and black PET bottles in four sizes.

October 31, 1997

Flexible packaging

Vertical f/f/s system

The Phaser vertical form/fill/seal system from Eagle Packaging (Oakland, CA) is a low-cost machine designed for customers who want to upgrade from manual to automated operations.

September 30, 1997