Anuga FoodTec 2022: KHS to showcase modern filling tech and future-proof packaging systems

12 Apr 2022 --- The KHS Group will be presenting its portfolio of modern filling technology and environmentally-friendly packaging systems at Anuga FoodTec in Cologne, Germany, later this month. 

The portfolio includes KHS’s InnoPET BloFill ACF-L block system for aseptic filling – the company’s new standard interfaces for communication between KHS machines and customer IT systems. 

Furthermore, the company says it continues to build on its decades of expert knowledge in secondary packaging. Films made of up to 100% recyclate can now be used to wrap containers, as can paper or cardboard.

Aseptic filling
For the filling of sensitive beverages in a hygienic environment, KHS provides an extensive portfolio of environmentally-friendly systems for various container designs and materials. With the InnoPET BloFill ACF-L stretch blow molder/filler block, the Dortmund engineering company presents a further development for sensitive beverages in PET bottles that are especially low on space. 

KHS says the new system scores with a multitude of innovations, one being its new switching valve. This valve controls the volume of the inflow to the actual filling valve, permitting a total of four different filling speeds. Bottle volumes both large and small with varying viscosities can be processed on this machinery – with “extremely” low foaming an added bonus. 

The filling process is stored in the product recipes so there is no need for manual conversion. This feature makes for a reproducible filling quality and improves filling accuracy. The result is a stable output of beverages with different properties, boosting efficiency and the flexibility required to fill a wide assortment of products.With the InnoPET BloFill ACF-L stretch blow molder/filler block, KHS provides a system solution for sensitive beverages in PET bottles that is especially low on space. 

Data transfer
As part of its Basic Line Monitoring process KHS has developed new standard interfaces for line monitoring and order control. The company says the respective modules facilitate communication between KHS machines and beverage producers’ IT systems. 

Furthermore, regular updates and new versions ensure a high, reliable quality of data, asserts KHS. With this new standardized approach, the systems supplier’s and customer’s own IT environments can be connected up to the machines even better and even more economically than before. This feature renders previously required time- and cost-intensive customized harmonization and programming superfluous, they say.

Future-proof packaging systems
In addition to its modern filling technology and various digital solutions, KHS will be putting its broad range of future-proof packaging systems on display in Cologne. 

“We’re consistently working to save on resources and use a higher percentage of recycled materials in place of new ones. Our customers worldwide benefit from our over 40 years of expertise in plastic containers for beverages, liquid food and homecare products,” says Dr. Johannes T. Grobe, KHS Group’s CSO.Cardboard clips or toppers are positioned on cans before a wheel clamps their “claws” under the can’s rim and erects the top.

The company says its newly developed Innopack CNP (Carton Nature Packer) turns beverage cans into stable packs using toppers or clips made of corrugated cardboard or solid board. Packs of four, six or eight standard and sleek can formats holding between 250 and 580 milliliters can be produced at an output of up to 108,000 containers per hour.

Another packaging alternative is Nature MultiPack. This resource-saving system joins beverage containers together with dots of adhesive to form a stable pack and saves up to 90% in materials by doing away with the secondary packaging. 

KHS says its Nature MultiPack is now also available for the high-performance range, with throughputs of up to 108,000 containers per hour possible when running at overcapacity. Depending on the format, the machine manufactures up to 450 packs of four a minute. 

KHS in the news
Earlier this year, KHS equipped Cameroonian beverage giant Union Camerounaise de Brasseries (UCB) with its first PET line for its new soda pop and water segment. UCB is also considering filling its beverages into cans, which would make it the country’s first brewery to operate its own can filling process. 

Also, Henkel’s Fa body care brand invested in a KHS stretch blow molder to enhance the energy efficiency of its weight-optimized oval PET bottle production. The move marks the first investment in a KHS stretch blow molder by the beauty segment. 

By Natalie Schwertheim