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Optimize  Bottle  head  cutting  process      ‘Optimize  the  operational  cost  of  a  plastic  bottle  head  

cutting  process’      Background    Our  client  is  a  leading  dairy  food  manufacturer  located  in  Southern  Europe.  Their  high  reputation  comes  from  a  combination  of  top  quality  raw  materials  and  a  maximum  traceable  and  controlled  production  process,  e.g.  using  clean  rooms  for  bottling.    The  company’s  objectives  include  a  continuous  improvement  in  terms  of  product  quality,  cost  efficiency  and  customer  service  levels.  

     The  challenge    Empty  bottles  are  manufactured  with  blow  molding  technology.  This  technology  produces  3-­‐layer  Polyethylene  bottles  (white/black/white  with  titanium  dioxide  for  whitening)  that  are  closed  with  an  inert  gas  inside.  Those  bottles  are  sent  to  the  filling  process  or  stored  in  the  warehouse.        

 

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The  challenge  (cont.)    The  filling  process  uses  a  neck  cutting  online  system  type  MAER  http://www.maer.es/en  within  a  sterile  manufacturing  environment  (using  per  acetic  acid):  

• The  bottle  has  a  head  section  of  32  mm.  diameter  and  1  mm.  thickness  (attached  sketch  and  pictures  when  joining  the  challenge).  

• The  cutter  is  made  of  stainless  steel  alloy  and  a  length  of  175  mm.  (see  attached  sketch  and  pictures)  with  an  actual  cost  of  916  €  /  cutter.  

• 1  cutter  works  well  with  2,71  million  of  bottles.  • The  cutting  process  works  (see  movie  at  https://youtu.be/Ikr6BEcFt_w  )  

-­‐  Speed  of  the  bottle  in  respect  of  the  cutter  is  33  m/min  -­‐  The  rotation  of  the  bottle  at  the  point  of  the  cutter  edge  is  180rpm  approx.,  bottle  turns  around  on  itself  one  time.  

 The  operational  cost  of  the  cutting  process  has  increased  since  the  acquisition  of  the  technology.  Cutting  cost  depends  directly  on  the  cutter  replacement  frequency  and  the  cutter  procurement  costs.  In  addition  cutter  replacement  requires  regenerating  the  sterile  manufacturing  environment.    

The  plastic  bottle  -­‐  Before  and  after  

     What  the  client  is  looking  for    The  company  is  looking  for  reducing  the  operational  cost  of  the  cutting  process.        

 

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 This  can  be  achieved  by  different  approaches  ranging  from:  

• Improving  the  cutter  specification  (different  material,  different  thermal  treatment,  different  coating,  different  dimensions  and/or  geometries,  different  supplier…)  

• Modifying  the  cutting  process.  • …    

 This  is  a  3-­‐rounds  tournament  with  the  following  submissions:    First  round  

• Proposed  solution  with  a  high-­‐level  description,  e.g.  new  cutter  specification,  changes  in  the  cutting  process,  etc.  

• Feasibility  evidences  (public  case  studies,  your  past  experience  in  other  cutting  processes,  cutter  supplier  documentation,  etc.)  

 Second  round  

• Detailed  solution  specification  • Cutter  /  equipment  specifications  and  available  suppliers.  • Estimated  investment  and/or  operational  costs.  

 If  required,  additional  information  will  be  provided  during  the  course  of  this  round.    Third  round  

• Factory  Tests  (in  charge  of  the  company).  This  will  serve  to  check  the  conditions  of  the  proposed  solution  in  machine  normal  production  conditions  (normal  production  machine  is  1.53  million  bottles  per  week)  

 Evaluation  criteria    

• Lowest  operational  cost  reduction  (minimum  30%)  • Lowest  investment  cost  for  the  proposed  solution  

 Timeline    This  is  a  3  rounds  tournament  with  the  following  timings    

• 1st  round  –  6  weeks+  2  week  for  evaluation  • 2nd  round  –  3  weeks  +  2  week  for  evaluation  • 3rd  round  –  8  weeks  (dependent  solution  provided)  

 The  Prize    The  winner  will  be  awarded  with  a  10.000  €  cash  prize