Case Study on Beverage Packaging Packing it Right: Why Flexibility is a Must for Beverage Packing

A case study on beverage packaging – The need for flexibility on a packaging line is ever increasing as retail infrastructure develops and consumer behavior changes rapidly. A recently installed packing line by Clearpack is a great example of packaging engineering meeting the evolving needs of the market.

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The Japanese canned drinks manufacturer had a preexisting line for processing, filling, seaming and packing rated at 42,000 cans per hour for three different volumes of cans—330 ml, 230 ml and 180 ml. The company provided these ready-to-drink cans to the market in corrugated wrap-around cases.

Owing to new market demands for additional pack formats and sizes, the manufacturer was looking to add equipment that would give them the flexibility of meeting all the different packaging formats required to deliver the products to the market. The pack configurations needed were cluster packs (6 pack), cluster packs into tray + film or into full wrap-around case, loose cans into tray + film or into full wrap-around case.

After the packing process, the final packs had to be conveyed to an existing high-level layer palletizer in the adjacent warehouse. Clearpack was able to tailor a solution with the right equipment and conveyor systems to meet the manufacturer’s requirements.

Solution

Initially, the solution was paired with the technical advantage of the company’s Involvo Shrink Wrapping (Model Invospeed) and wrap-around case. The Invospeed S80 was used for shrink wrapping of the cans in order to make cluster packs with an output of 140 packs per minute with adequate overcapacity.

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After this, the newly formed cluster packs are either diverted to the Invopac (wrap around case packer) or the Invospeed ST (Tray + film packing) for logistical packaging. Innovative design concepts allowed Clearpack to manufacture a conveyor module to divert the shrink packs into a two-level highway either for the Invopac or the Invospeed ST.

The Invopac provided compelling advantages to the manufacturer, which influenced them to replace the existing wraparound case packer. The Invopac, with the use of a fly-bar, ensured there was minimum back pressure acting on the shrink packs or loose cans in the in-feed conveyor. This reduces the risk of product damage.

Secondly, the two-level concept of the Invopac provides the customer with the option to add multiple layers in the case collation. The use of two flap compression stations ensures that the case is perfectly square at all times.

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