HEUFT increased efficiency - a new product?!

To increase the efficiency of a filling line is a very ambitious aim. A long-term increase in productivity with a comparatively low one-off investment is only possible with a partner who has the necessary know-how at hand. The HEUFT company recently provided proof to the mineral water suppliers "Rhön-Sprudel", that it was the ideal partner to achieve this goal for them, by demonstrating its expertise on a PET filling line at the Rhön-Sprudel plant in Bad Liebenwerda, Germany.

The HEUFT company took over complete control of the area between the washing machine and the labeller by integrating an empty bottle inspector. A HEUFT synchron, for electronic blocking, was placed between the washing machine and the filler. The filler/labeller area was also electronically blocked and this over a control distance of only 4.5 m!

Impressed by the fast implementation of the project and the results achieved, the HEUFT company was given instructions to improve the efficiency of an existing glass filling line at Rhön-Sprudel´s original plant.

The project was divided into two stages - the wet section and the dry section. To begin with the bottle sorting/decapping area was optimised. In the past two control computers were employed here which were not coordinated. Vibration could often be observed here which caused unnecessarily high speeds and this resulted in bottles falling over, excessive noise and the bottles subjected to considerable wear. The introduction of the HEUFT synchron, which can regulate two communicating control loops, together with a few mechanical adjustments, especially in the pressureless combiner area, resulted in a continuous bottle flow. The bottle throughput in this area was also considerably increased in addition to low conveyor speeds and a greatly reduced noise level.

Upon successful completion of the first stage instructions were given for the wet section. The employment of a control computer in conjunction with mechanical adjustments to the conveyors also resulted in a considerable increase to the bottle throughput. In addition to the increased efficiency, which had a direct bearing on the production costs, the reduction in bottle wear and noise level also decreased the long-term costs.

This will bear fruit for the HEUFT company in the future - negotiations are presently taking place for the modification of other filling lines at Rhön-Sprudel…