AGR Process Pilot Blowmolder Control Helps Suntory Trim 7g from Tea Bottle

The narrowed process variation window and lower standard deviation gave Suntory the confidence to continue its aggressive light-weighting program while maintaining identical package performance.

Dec 19 2011 --- As part of a corporate-wide sustainability initiative, Japan’s Suntory Holdings Ltd. has slimmed down its two-liter PET bottle from 44 grams to 37 grams, generating a 16 percent savings in weight.

The reduction was accomplished through the use of the Process Pilot automated blowmolder management system manufactured by U.S.-based AGR International. The Process Pilot works in conjunction with AGR’s PETWall Profiler material distribution measurement system to automate the management of blowmolder production.

Installed on a KHS Blowmax 18 Series III blowmolder at Suntory’s Haruna plant, the PETWall Profiler system with Process Pilot control uses sophisticated software algorithms and precise thickness measurement capabilities to manage all aspects of blowmolder operation. When it detects any variation in processing conditions during production drafts or cold preforms, for example the software automatically adjusts the blowmolder to maintain proper material distribution in the bottle. Electronic sensors allow it to respond much more quickly and reliably than manual operation.

The AGR system was subjected to extensive testing before full deployment. The two companies jointly devised a three-stage qualification program to assure that the light-weighted bottles would meet the exacting performance standards demanded by the Japanese market. The first stage validated the accuracy of the system’s online measurement capability. The second confirmed its responsiveness to various control input changes and confirmed optimum Process Pilot configuration settings. The final stage compared bottles produced on the KHS Blowmax with and without the Process Pilot activated to quantify its contribution over a longer term.

The system delivered positive results at all three levels of testing. Data showed that the PETWall Profiler with Process Pilot controlled the blowmolding process to a high degree of precision regardless of external influences. The narrowed process variation window and lower standard deviation gave Suntory the confidence to continue its aggressive light-weighting program while maintaining identical package performance.

Mr. Toshiya Kobayashi, Deputy General Manager-Engineering Department at Suntory, summarized the system’s primary benefits as “reduced process optimization time at startup, improved bottle performances, reduced influence of operators on blowmolder settings, and a decrease in rejected packages.”

Before the system was installed on the KHS Blowmax line, which runs at 18,000 bottles per hour, bottle and preform rejects averaged about 1 percent per year. Thanks to the Process Pilot’s ability to compensate for marginal performs, reject totals were reduced by a full 80 percent.

Suntory is Japan’s leading beverage producer, with a strong presence in wine and spirits, soft drinks, teas, juices, and bottled water. With the first Process Pilot fully qualified, the company has announced plans to extend deployment to additional blowmolding lines, where it will realize gains not only in labor and efficiency improvements but also through reduced carbon emissions, raw material consumption, and improved sustainability.