Inspecting empty PET bottles

Full performance to promote growth

Over the past 10 years the Bad Liebenwerda mineral springs have developed into one of the most efficient bottling plants in Germany. Their enormous growth and the changes in the beverage sector demanded many alterations to the bottling lines from a technical aspect. Again and again individual machines had to be replaced by more efficient machines or extended by means of additional machines. This did not always have a positive effect on the efficiency of the installation.

When further modernization was on the agenda, by installing a new empty bottle inspector along a bottling line which had been converted from returnable glass to returnable PET bottles, an order was only placed on the condition that the efficiency of the bottling line would be increased at the same time. At this point in time the efficiency of the line had dropped to below 70%.

HEUFT SYSTEMTECHNIK GMBH took on the task after analysing the weak spots in detail and presented an extensive concept for optimising the container transport. The regulation of the conveyors as well as their mechanical design were responsible for the lion´s share of the downtimes.

Numerous mechanical modifications were carried out and several HEUFT synchron conveyor regulation systems installed in parallel with the delivery of the empty bottle inspector. In this way the pressureless combining as well as the catch-up sections could be optimally regulated. Even critical sections such as the piece of conveyor which is only 4 m long between the outfeed filler/labeller block and the second labeller for all-around labels go like clockwork since the reconstruction work.

After only two weeks a performance test was carried out over eight hours and an efficiency of 98% was achieved.

Those at Bad Liebenwerda were impressed with the fast and successful realization of the concept. The efficiency achieved, which greatly exceeded that assured by contract, quickly resulted in the placing of further orders both for new equipment and the modernizing and optimising of existing equipment.

Therefore nothing now stands in the way of further growth for the mineral springs. We wish them every success!