Fully integrated production lines and more efficient strategies for material use are ways the fast growing market for PET bottled water is stepping on the gas, reports water innovation.

With PET comfortably outstripping glass as its preferred delivery mechanism and with the global market requirement likely to exceed 47 billion units by 2010 (a year on year growth rate of around 6%), streamlining the overall production process to achieve maximum cost and performance efficiency has become the water bottling sector’s key imperative - notably though seamless production configurations, and a more sustainable materials usage strategy.

In house blowing has long been the established norm outside of the North American market, with the adoption of more European manufacturing practices by the likes of Nestlé Waters and PepsiCo notwithstanding. The greater bulk of prefilled bottles still continue to be blown, palletised and shipped by a well established specialist rigid plastics converting sector.

An estimated 40% of the world’s bottling plants have been traditionally engineered and sourced on a perceived best in class basis from individual suppliers. But the emergence of new entrants into the industry aligned with the pressures imposed by margin sensitive time to market supply chain criteria, is likely to make them the exception rather than the rule.

“The proportion of water bottling lines that aren’t structured on a fully automated and integrated combination of blowing and filling equipment will be less than 20% of all installations worldwide in the next five years,” Sacmi Filling General Sales Manager Matteo Quaini told water innovation this month.
Not surprising then, that most of the leading blow moulding systems and equipment manufacturers are now heavily promoting their own one stop

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Reprinted from water innovation © February 2008