K 2004: Netstal to deliver record-breaking 192-cavity PET preform moulding machine

Netstal is demonstrating a PET-Line machine at K making 36,000 preform/hr in a 96-cavity mould, but revealed it is about to deliver a 192-cavity system to the USA.

21 October – Netstal has built a 600t PET-Line machine with a 192-cavity MHT Mold & Hotrunner Technology mould, with an output of 80,000 preforms/hr, the company disclosed at K2004.

The machine is now under evaluation at the Nдfels headquarters in Switzerland, prior to delivery to a customer in the USA that is already using a 144-cavity system.

At the fair, Netstal is demonstrating a PET-Line machine making more than 36,000 preforms/hr for 0.5 litre bottles on a 96-cavity Hofstetter mould at a 9.5s cycle time.

Marketing manager Reto Morger told PRW.com that by reducing the pitch between the cavities and re-engineering the cooling, it has been possible to produce the parts on a 350t PET-Line machine instead of using the larger 600t machine that has been previously been required for this type of mould and application.

He commented: “There are just a handful of companies in the market making preforms for water and carbonated soft drink (CSD) bottles, but in volumes amounting to billions of preforms/year. They want to reduce the machine cost for these volumes as much as possible”.

While 144-cavity machines are used in the USA, Europe has so far remained with maximum 96 cavities. The 96-cavity machine at K, for example, has been sold to Europet in Russia.