Robust Giant: Reconditioning of 192 cavity PET Preform Tools after Ten Years
A reliable endurance runner: Ten years ago, Western Container Corporation (WCC) installed their first 192-cavity tool from MHT Mold & Hotrunner Technology AG (Germany).
The tool was installed in a Netstal PET-LINE 6000 system and has subsequently produced some 3 billion preforms. Roger Kerr, Vice President of Engineering & Manufacturing Technology at Western Container Corporation, is delighted with the tool /machine combination:
“The availability of the system is very high, and with 192 cavities we have the large output volume we need for our business.”
Western Container produces preforms for Coca-Cola with five sites in the US, and operates three of MHT's 192 cavity molds. MHT has a total of ten 192 cavity tools in the market worldwide.
The original preform design is being superseded with a new lightweight design, and once again MHT has been selected to provide the tooling for WCC’s 192 cavity systems. The new 22 gram preform has a lightweight PCO 1881 thread finish, and MHT has built complete new cold halves incorporating the latest stack design technology. Although the first tool is now ten years old, it is technically completely up to date. Despite its size, the 192-cavity tool is surprisingly user-friendly in its start-up performance. Generally, the 3rd shot generates perfect quality preforms.
The MHT founder and longtime Technical Manager, Werner Plass, and his successor Christian Wagner came to visit the customer for the hand-over of the new molds. The collaboration between MHT and Western Container goes back many years and covers tools for Netstal and Husky machines.
“MHT has been an excellent partner over the years and have very much helped us to stay at the forefront of PET technology” said Kerr.