Major order from Puerto Rican firm PET Plastics, which has purchased a complete system capable of processing up to 2,000 caps per minute, with higher quality performance, lower costs and increased process efficiency. Fast, easy size changeovers, higher performance compared to alternative technologies and a well-equipped technical facility to provide the know-how needed to develop products that respond perfectly to customer-requested specifications.

These key advantages have now led Puerto Rican firm PET Plastics to choose Sacmi compression technology. Already a major supplier of preforms to the most important beverage players in North America and the Caribbean, PET Plastics recently chose to enter the closures market, selecting Sacmi compression technology as opposed to the alternative injection technology. The numerous advantages of this solution include, in fact, the ability to manufacture caps with different designs using the same mould; this is because the thickness of the upper cap section can be set independently and directly via the operator interface.

Efficient and flexible, the Sacmi CCM lets manufacturers cover the entire cap range on the market thanks to the enormous variety of available designs. Offering intrinsic advantages in terms of productivity, energy savings and reliability, this technology operates at lower temperatures, thus reducing on-material stress and extending the working life of both machine and plant.

The solution purchased by PET Plastics – a CCM 48SC – is designed to manufacture caps with a 26 mm diameter and will have an output capacity of up to 2,000 caps per minute and a cycle time of just 1.44 seconds. Compared to alternative solutions such as injection, this technology also allows for the manufacture of lighter, better-performing caps; their weight and other parameters can be modified easily via the operator interface.

The solution supplied to PET Plastics is also equipped with COOL+ moulds; these feature innovative dual cooling circuit systems that allow for more uniform, faster cooling, thus optimising the process and increasing product quality. Extremely versatile, CCM technology represents a major investment choice for PET Plastics, which was quick to grasp the advantages it offers in terms of lower costs and higher quality output. Hence the company's near-future plans to purchase, following this initial order for the water market, further mould sets for the manufacture of CSD caps.

A key factor in the customer's decision was Sacmi's Closures&Containers facility, which provides all the assistance needed to ensure the cap responds perfectly to customer specifications. Certified by major international beverage players, this Sacmi facility is fully equipped to provide customers with close support right from the design stage (i.e. via advanced seal tests on the cap and cap-bottle system) and throughout the working life of the machine and the plant.

With this order – the first in the area specifically dedicated to the bottled water market – Sacmi reaffirms its global leadership in this industry, thanks to the outstanding technology and thousands of installed machines and plants that make CCM the world's most competitive single-piece cap manufacturing solution.