[vc_column width=”1/2″](Originally featured in Bebidas January/February, 2004.)
Puerto Rican Water Bottling Company Upgrades To An Easier Labeler
Regional water bottler adds a pressure-sensitive labeling system that increases packaging speeds and eliminates mislabeled bottles with quicker changeovers.
The recent addition of a pressure-sensitive labeling system is helping regional beverage bottler D & H Products compete with the big boys in its Caribbean sales territory.
D & H Products is a water bottling company located in Luquillo, Puerto Rico. The company serves its native Puerto Rican market as well as select Caribbean islands such as the U.S. Virgin Islands, The Antilles, and The Dominican Republic. Their water bottles can even be found on the store shelves of some southern states in the U.S.A. D & H produces water bottles in a variety of sizes including 1/2 liter, 1 liter, 1.5 liter, and even 1 gallon sizes.
The Puerto Rican company invested in a new Model 3300 labeling system from Label-Aire, Inc. (Fullerton, California USA). Before adding the labeler, “D&H was using an older Label-Aire 2120 labeler that was very reliable but was bottling at speeds up to 125 bottles per minute,” explains Randy Smoot of Tape & Label Engineering. The Florida-based Label-Aire distributor provided the sales and service of both machines. “They were happy with the old 2120 but needed something faster to stay competitive,” says Smoot. The newer 3300 labeling system labels bottles at speeds up to 225 bottles per minute. “Now the filler can run at higher speeds because the Label-Aire runs at higher speeds.”
“Another reason for the upgrade to the newer machine was that D&H wanted to further eliminate mislabeled products and the 3300 was the right machine.” Label-Aire modified a standard 3300 by removing its top trap hold down unit and reduced the number of feed screws from 2 to 1 plus added a vertical trunnion roller to meet D & H’s requirements. The trunnion roller dramatically increases the rotational motion of each bottle without having to increase the translational speed providing increased control over the bottle and label application.
The fact that D & H labels private water bottle brands (such as the Pueblo supermarket chain) in addition to its own D&H Water brand further made the Label-Aire 3300 a perfect fit. “Because they private label many brands, they needed a machine that could be changed over from one label or bottle size to the next quickly.” The quicker changing 3300 allows D & H to reduce expensive downtime and remain competitive.
Says Smoot, “I have been working with D & H for over 15 years and they have been very pleased with the Label-Aire equipment I have been supplying them. They are also very pleased with their growth and the 3300 is helping them continue their growth and remain competitive.”
Written by William Claproth.
For more information on our Model 3300 Labeling System or our other products, please call us at (714) 441-0700 or fill out our Info Request form. [/vc_column]
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