Parmalat: market-oriented filling of milk in PET

Piana di Monteverna and Centrale di Latte di Roma are the sites that after a reorganisation process have been equipped with filling technology made by Krones. At both sites, a PET line for fresh milk has been installed. The fast PET filling line allows for filling higher quantities within a short time than a cartoning line.
The Contiform S14 stretch blow-moulding machine produces 1-litre PET containers at a maximum speed of 24,000 containers an hour. The compact Contiform incorporates the following elements: Preform infeed with hopper loading system, linear oven and stretch-blow moulder. In the event of a format changeover, the moulds can be quickly replaced. An AirCo air conveyor transports the bottles to the filler. Thanks to this hygienic air conveyor system featuring sterile air, Parmalat is able to do without a rinser. The completely enclosed Volumetic VODM-PET volumetric filler with 60 filling valves provides microbiologically optimised filling conditions. The servomotorised capper closes the containers with high precision. The closures are fed to the machine via a double sorter, enabling the client to change over to a different closure in a matter of seconds.  Downstream of the filler, a Checkmat monitoring system checks the fill level by means of gamma rays. The next step is labelling: A Contiroll labeller applies the reel-fed film or paper labels on the PET containers. With its automatic reel changeover feature, the machine achieves a very high output and allows for optimal deployment of human resources. The PET containers are then shrink-wrapped into 12-packs, which are subsequently palletised in a refrigerated adjoining room.