Packaging
Krones Inc. Blowmould manufacturing and evaluation facility
Monday 01. December 2008 - Krones is proud to announce a batch of new offerings directed from its U.S. facility. To compliment the existing support, service and inventory control for Krones labelers, packers, cappers, fillers and everything that goes into the turn-key filling plants Krones is now able to support and supply the things the packaging industry needs for designing, developing, trialing and manufacturing a PET container.
For 15 years now Krones has offered comprehensive and reliable designs of blowmoulders. Supporting that business, Krones has developed a process and team to design and develop packaging specifically geared to the customers needs. Now, a great portion of this offering will come from the Krones Inc. facility in Franklin, WI, USA, thanks to a brand new facility including mold manufacturing center, 8-cavity Krones blowmoulder for three processes and full PET Analytical lab.
The 8-cavity Lab Blowmoulder has the unique capability to run any one of three processes including; Standard, Relaxed and even Heat-set. The flexibility is necessary, given that the primary function of the blowmoulding machine on-site is to support mold evaluation and bottle development across those processes.
For each new set of molds produced in the US, Krones will evaluate the pilot (unit ahead) mold to confirm that the mold design and sizing are correct for making the bottle outlined in the customers specification. This step is imperative to guaranteeing bottle performance once installed on a Krones molder in the field and is unique to a Krones manufactured mold-set.
There are also many major additional benefits to having a non-production blowmoulder on site. For instance, Krones will offer molder time for manufacturer qualifications or hands-on training, previously un-available anywhere else outside of corporate headquarters in Germany. Even the Krones service department will have an in-house sounding board for troubleshooting. The benefits are plenty and Krones customers from the western hemisphere and across the world will see the results.
Full PET Analytical Lab
With a new facility manufacturing and sampling molds, it is necessary to be able to quantify bottle performance and confirm that the metal part will in-fact make the perfect plastic part. This lab meets this need. It is state of the art, including a full compliment of testing apparatus in a temperature and humidity controlled environment. With this facility, Krones can be sure of results prior to manufacturing a full mold-set or, more importantly, releasing the molds to the customer. There is no on-site trialing at the customer with this setup. These molds are approved before they leave the shipping dock.
Having the new Manufacturing Center located in the heartland of the U.S. allows the goods to be completed and distributed from a location closer to the end user. By working locally, the feedback between Krones and the customer will be more direct and create higher satisfaction and faster output compared to working and shipping intercontinental.
The new facility represents a commitment to the blowmoulder segment of the Krones portfolio and will allow the company to better support the current and future customer base with high-quality manufacturing, service and support.