Packaging World 4-Aug-2014

Says Pietro Di Pilato, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing & Distillation, Diageo NA, “Diageo is recognized as a leader in product Innovation, and North America is Diageo’s leading region for new products. The design of our overall network—with specific lines dedicated to innovation and small-volume runs—has enabled us to get these new products to market more quickly, driving greater value for the business. In addition, the new equipment allows us greater flexibility in the product and packaging—including full bottle ‘sleeving’ and pouches—which has helped us innovate in new categories, or around new consumer occasions.”

High-speed, high-volume is key
The most recent expansion brings the number of packaging lines at the Plainfield facility to 10, with the addition of Line 8 for glass and PET, Line 9 for glass, and Line 10 for PET. According to Di Pilato, machinery for the lines was chosen based on an evaluation of best-in-class equipment and by referencing benchmarking information from other Diageo sites around the world and from the wider industry. Maximum speed and changeover were facilitated by upgrading specific blending and batching processes to manage the liquid more effectively and through automation of the packaging line guide rails using Astrra equipment from A.S. Thomas, Inc.

“Automating the packaging line guide rails provided by Astrra decreased changeover times via single-touch adjustment, which automatically moves the guide rails to predetermined locations, thereby eliminating the need for manual movement and adjustment of the rails to match the bottle size,” Di Pilato says. “This technology has helped to decrease changeover times by two to four hours, depending on the line.”

see full article: http://www.packworld.com/machinery/fillingsealing/diageo-invests-120m-three-new-bottling-lines