Page 55 - ETP-April-May2020

PACKAGING

Pursuit of excellence

The largest drinks company in Argentina has reached high levels of efficiency,
of up to 100 percent, on its most recent complete hot-fill line. Here’s how.

n collaboration with Ferrer. With this new in-
Sidel, Cervecería y vestment in Sidel’s line,
Maltería Quilmes Quilmes have more than
I– the largest drinks doubled their capacity to
company in Argentina – produce beverages in PET
has reached high levels of containers, going from
efficiency, of up to 100 22,000 to 45,000 bottles
percent, on their most re- per hour (bph).
cent complete hot-fill line. The company had
This complete, high-speed different alternatives of
bottling solution produc- who their bottling line
es, among other things, supplier was going to be.
the Gatorade brand of iso- “We were convinced by
tonic beverages in PET containers, result of a joint venture with Nestlé the good experience we had with a
in compliance with PepsiCo’s qual- Waters. “The company’s objective is variety of Sidel equipment and de-
ity standards. The new line offers to provide consumers with quality cided to continue with them. Cur-
advantages in terms of production beverages and to take care of the en- rently, we are very satisfied with the
flexibility and protection of the envi- vironment. The investment in Sidel’s performance of the line, two years
ronment, particularly due to energy bottling line is perfectly aligned with after its installation. Another factor
savings. this aim,” he adds. in choosing Sidel for this investment
Quilmes has been operating in was that Quilmes was looking for
Argentina for over 130 years. The Doubling PET production a complete solution to satisfy our
company started out in the beer busi- capacity with an needs. We took into account not just
ness by opening their first brewery in integrated bottling the bottling line, but also product
the city of Quilmes, about 20 kilom- solution processing via pasteurisation (Tetra
eters southeast of the capital, Buenos Investing in a new hot-fill produc- Pak Processing Systems), in order
Aires. “Over the years, Quilmes has tion line at the Southern plant in the to maximise the potential synergies.
expanded across beverage categories city of Buenos Aires was necessary Sidel showed the necessary flexibility
by acquiring a carbonated soft drink because it is the only facility which for this and were able to provide a
business. This happened about 20 supplies the entire national market solution, creating a better model of
years ago, with PepsiCo’s exclusive and also exports to Uruguay. “Both efficiency and production quality for
franchise for production, distribu- PET container lines were at the top us,” he continues.
tion and marketing of the brand’s end of their capacity, so we needed Quilmes was also quite satisfied
full line of beverages in Argentina,” a bigger line to increase our market with the positive collaboration of
explained Juan José Ferrer, Plant share in Argentina. The second ob- Sidel’s team of experts throughout
Manager at Quilmes. The company jective was to have a more modern the project stage prior to the line
also participate in the water business line with lower energy consumption installation, as well as during the in-
through Eco de los Andes SA, the and better efficiency,” says Juan José stallation itself and for the aftersales
service. He goes on, “Obviously we
started by looking for the best op-
“BOTH PET CONTAINER LINES WERE AT THE tions for Quilmes with the line de- The Economic Times POLYMERS | April-May 2020
TOP END OF THEIR CAPACITY, SO WE NEEDED A sign team. Afterwards, the start-up
BIGGER LINE TO INCREASE OUR MARKET SHARE phase was the most intense, when
IN ARGENTINA. THE SECOND OBJECTIVE WAS TO we required assistance from Sidel.
HAVE A MORE MODERN LINE WITH LOWER ENERGY The machines were installed in a
CONSUMPTION AND BETTER EFFICIENCY.” new zone of the factory floor, and we
Juan José Ferrer, Plant Manager at Quilmes. underwent the typical difficulties re-
lated to our utilities; but in all truth,

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