Bottling company invests in Sidel's Super Combi

In the US, the PET bottled water segment is projected to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 3% every year between 2016 and 2020. Niagara Bottling LLC delivers one in three of all water bottles sold, making it the largest US bottler in water production by volume.

It decided to utilise the growing bottled water market by installing a new high-speed PET line. The Super Combi from Sidel aims to help the company continue to deliver water to major retailers from 25 plants in the US and Mexico in a cost-efficient way.

“The Super Combi concept is going to allow us to enhance our performance in a very smart way. In the past, we’d need a blower, filler, buffer conveyors and then maybe a couple of bottle aligners and labellers,” said Bill Hall, executive vice president of manufacturing at Niagara Bottling LLC. “With the Super Combi, we can have a blower, labeller and filler in one compact machine. This reduces inefficiencies, meaning we have fewer machines to maintain and a smaller working space to be controlled by less skilled operators. In this way, we can clearly drive down costs.”

With lean production methods at the heart of their operations, Niagara Bottling recognised the Super Combi’s ability to further reduce waste through its compact footprint and optimised raw material management.

“Our focus is always going to be on reducing total cost of ownership (TCO). Our goal is to deliver a case of water to our customers, while removing any component and process which is not bringing added value to them. The Super Combi will let us take the next step in that evolution,” Hall continued.

Currently, the company has installed more than 15 complete PET lines from Sidel and recently, two Super Combis. As a result, Niagara Bottling can increase efficiency through high-speed manufacturing and data management that can be used to guide information assessment and decision-making across all levels.

After working with Sidel for almost 20 years, Niagara Bottling trusted Sidel to provide the technology and expertise to help maintain its position in the low-cost bottled water market. Hall praises the packaging provider for its technology: “Sidel puts us in the most competitive position to produce a bottle and fill it with water. We believe that Sidel is one of the top players in the marketplace.”