Jin Mai Lang installs Sidel’s complete aseptic PET lines

Jin Mai Lang has recently installed two Sidel complete aseptic PET lines, both integrating Tetra Pak processing system technologies and the company’s Aseptic Combi Predis. These lines deliver a staggering production output of 60,000 bottles in an hour – making them the world’s fastest aseptic PET lines with dry preform decontamination for low acid products. These complete solutions, alongside newly designed PET bottles, another courtesy of Sidel, helped the key player in the Chinese beverage market to increase production capacity of their low and high acid products packaged in PET while lowering their Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Impressed by benefits gained through this installation, Jin Mai Lang recently invested in another three Sidel aseptic complete lines, running at the same speed.

Even before this recent installation, Jin Mai Lang was bottling in PET through Sidel’s hot-fill, wet aseptic and ultraclean technologies. “We started our successful partnership with Sidel back in 2006,” remembers Xianguo Fan, chairman of Jin Mai Lang. “Thanks to this 13-year long cooperation, which has been materialized in many repeated orders, we currently have more than fifty pieces of Sidel equipment running in our factories, including seven complete PET ultraclean lines and 20 hot-fill PET lines. Over the years, we have built complete confidence in Sidel, recognizing the quality and the reliability of their equipment, their innovation-driven mindset, as well as their local support and service capabilities.” 

The lines have been installed in the company’s factories in Tianchang and Cuiping, located in the Anhui and Henan Province, respectively.

Outstanding performance and minimal TCO 

“We wanted to minimize our TCO by relying on a sustainable and energy-efficient piece of equipment that uses very few chemicals and no water during production. For us, this choice translated to significant savings,” Fan explains. As an FDA-validated solution, already accounting for more than 150 references globally, the Sidel Aseptic Combi Predis offers a versatile production to the top Chinese player, who is now able to manage six different SKUs, including three different bottle designs for the 500 ml format and a total of six different flavors. This flexibility is also made possible by significantly reduced changeover times: less than 30 minutes are required for a bottle format changeover on the Combi. In addition, to secure maximum uptime without compromising absolute food safety, the Aseptic Combi Predis units integrated with both complete PET lines at Jin Mai Lang’s factories have already been successfully validated for 165 continuous production hours as the press release mentions.

Sidel has designed the new lines around Jin Mai Lang’s specific requirements, starting with the customer’s need for maximum performance. Safe and hygienic, the two lines claim to offer an integrated solution from product preparation and treatment through the packaging line up to tertiary packaging. On top of the Aseptic Combi Predis solution, both Sidel lines integrate Tetra Pak Processing Systems (TPPS) technologies, the CapdisTM dry cap decontamination system, a sleever, as well as wrap-around packer and palletizing equipment. Most importantly, the lines are said to be extremely flexible, allowing the production of all the low acid products in the company’s portfolio. Moreover, they are engineered for long-term performance, improving OEE while minimizing TCO.

The two complete aseptic PET lines started production between the end of 2018 and mid-2019, both featuring more than 95% efficiency while delivering 60,000 bottles in an hour. This makes them the fastest complete aseptic PET lines integrating dry preform decontamination technology for low acid products in the entire world. 

New bottle designs win young consumers’ preference 

When highlighting the second big challenge for this customer, Steven Xie, packaging director of Sidel explains, “Jin Mai Lang also wanted to refresh the ten-year-old designs applied to their iced and green tea PET bottles. They realized they were no longer perceived as eye-catching by young local consumers, who represent their target group. To address this, Sidel provided a 360° packaging service including more than 15 conceptual and technical designs, pilot bottle tests and three pilot molds. By taking advantage of the freedom of shape offered by the PET dry preform decontamination process, we helped the customer revamp their product range without increasing the bottle weight, which stays below 18 grams.”

Excellent support gains Jin Mai Lang’s continued trust 

According to the press statement, the future for the leading Chinese beverage producer and Sidel is looking bright. They were extremely pleased with the successful cooperation, so much so that they opted for three further Sidel complete aseptic PET lines, all delivering 60,000 bottles in an hour, and even selected Sidel as one of their strategic packaging and mold suppliers for the next three years.