With the 2008 opening of two new Packaging and Tooling Centres in Mexico and China, Sidel has enhanced its local service capability for new packaging development and blow mould manufacturing.
Coca-Cola Bottling System has benefited from Sidel’s worldwide network for the manufacture of approximately 2,000 blow moulds for its new On-the-Go (OTG) bottle.
The launch, by Coca-Cola, of the new OTG bottle shape, replacing the traditional contour bottle for small formats (0.4L, 0.5L and 0.6L), started in late 2007 in China. It was then extended to Europe in 2008, and now to North and South America.
Looking for a partner that could manage complex projects through the combination of its network and industry expertise, the company employed Sidel.
The PTCs which are created by Sidel, concentrate all packaging development skills in one site: bottle and mould design, as well as manufacture of blow moulds and perso parts.
According to the company, all products meet the same high quality standards, since each centre benefits from the Sidel Group’s expertise in various blow mould technologies, acquired over the last 50 years.
Above and beyond simple mould manufacturing, Sidel also guarantees the industrial performance, and in many instances, improvements of the bottle’s mechanical properties. As an example, Sidel was able to readjust the OTG bottle design by addressing technical challenges in terms of material stretching and positioning of the radii found in the original design.
In Mexico, Sidel has received an order for more than 400 moulds from the network of converters that work with Coca-Cola. Order fulfilment was made possible by the newest PTC, which opened in Guadalajara in May 2008.
This plant’s industrial capacity, added to that for the PTCs in Atlanta, US and Sao Paulo, Brazil, brings total production up to 8,000 moulds per year for North and South America, and has enabled Sidel to ensure delivery of the new moulds within the country in the record time of just four weeks.