Change Over High-Output PET Blow/Fill/Cap Lines in Just One Week

MenaBev, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is said to be the leading bottler of water and soft drinks in the Middle East and North Africa. Its 300,000 m² Mega plant near Jeddah is one of the largest and most automated PepsiCo bottling plants worldwide. It has three PET lines from Sidel – two for carbonated soft drinks and one for water – plus three can and glass lines.

Late last year, MenaBev needed to retool two Sidel Combi integrated PET blowing/filling/capping lines to produce, on one line, three new-look Aquafina water formats and, on the other line, four new “Carolina” bottle formats for PepsiCola. The Aquafina line involved new 330-ml, 500-ml and 1.5-liter bottles. For the 330-ml bottle, Sidel delivered a new design with 10% lighter weight.

Both Sidel Combi lines incorporate Universal stretch-blow molders, the one on the Aquafina line with 30 stations and the one on the Pepsi line with 24 stations. Each line was adapted to the new formats in one week apiece. What’s more, Sidel’s engineers were able to increase the Aquafina line’s output up to 60,000 bph from 54,000 bph previously. The Carolina Pepsi line maintained its optimized speed of 48,000 bph.