Nanjing Ziquan, one of China’s leading co-packers, has turned again to Sidel to increase its hot fill production capacity of Mizone, a functional drink brand particularly popular in China and packaged in PET, for which consumption is growing. The new line - running at a speed of 36,000 bottles per hour (bph) - follows positive feedback on a similar complete hot fill PET line installed in 2013. It brings the total number of hot fill lines installed in the Nanjing plant to three.Nanjing Ziquan is a member of The Shanghai Ziquan Beverage Company Limited, one of the country’s leading OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) companies. Established in April 2004 and located in the Nanjing Hi-tech Industrial Development Park on a site covering more than 56,000 square metres, the company bottles products in PET on behalf of leading brands such as Danone, Coca-Cola and others for distribution in Greater China. As a key OEM company in the region - with a production capacity of 490 million standard bottles per year - Nanjing Ziquan was looking for a solution which was respecting the highest hygienic standards required by its customer, while paying close attention to cost-efficiency so to keep the positive trajectory of its profitability.
“The earlier Sidel line had been maintaining an operating efficiency of 95%+ and has even been upgraded recently, so that its output speeds for the 600ml bottle format increased from 30,000 bottles per hour to 34,500 bottles per hour,” comments the management team of Nanjing Ziquan. “As a result of the excellent and reliable performance of this first complete hot fill line, we were happy to award the project for a similar solution once again to Sidel.”
Both Sidel lines comprise a Sidel SBO Heat Resistant blower with 20 blowing stations, Sidel Matrix™ SF700 hot filler, conveyors, labeller and packer. They strengthen the installed base of hot fill complete lines in the Nanjing Ziquan plant and increase production capacity of Mizone in PET bottles.
Another key factor driving the supplier’s choice was the reputation built by Sidel in China in terms of hygienic design and food safety. Helped by the company’s success with aseptic production, it established Sidel’s credentials and helped to strengthen its credibility in undertaking other complex applications such as hotfill. Sidel counts on 45 years of hotfilling experience, with more than 1,000 proven hotfill solutions installed worldwide. "Sidel's expertise in PET packaging and its extensive experience in hotfill applications were decisive drivers in our choice of supplier for this new line," states the management team of Nanjing Ziquan. "And having previously had success with Sidel HR blowers on seven lines at our other sites, simply reinforced our belief in Sidel's capabilities of handling the new Mizone line at Nanjing Ziquan," the team adds. The Sidel HR blowers allows management of the complexities typically associated with hotfill production, such as the collapsing of packages, as well as the definition of the most-adapted process possible to ensure bottle quality.
