MSK delivers a new cold end to Vidroporto in Brazil 

For the new glass furnace at Vidroporto in Porto Ferreira, Brazil, MSK – one of the leading international manufacturer of cold-end equipment - has delivered the complete cold end from the lehr to the pallet packaging. Three top quality production lines were installed in an extremely short time and thus reliably implement the overall performance of the new glass plant guaranteed by the suppliers.

A new production hall with a new furnace for the production of bottles, mainly destined for the bottler Ambev, went into operation at Vidroporto in Porto Ferreira in October 2014. MSK was awarded the contract for the delivery of the complete cold-end equipment for the new furnace. With an output of 600 bottles per minute on each line, MSK conveys the bottles on three production lines connected to inspection machines per line to the MSK palletizers. The palletizers of the type MSK Duotech place the bottles on pallets at a rate of up to 2 layers per minute which are then secured for transport with an MSK shrink packaging machine. An MSK shuttle car ensures automated pallet transport between the palletizers and packaging equipment and supplies the palletizer with dressed pallets and interlayers.

Long-term cooperation

MSK machines for the cold end have proven themselves time and again at Vidroporto over the years. As early as 2011, MSK received an order from the Brazilian glass manufacturer for the entire handling for two glass production lines from the lehr with bottle conveying equipment, including cullet conveyors, palletizers, shrink packaging machine, shuttle cars and other pallet conveying equipment. In particular, the MSK EMSY operating software and the associated simple machine control system greatly pleased the customer at the time. "The recently completed major contract for the entire cold end of the new glass plant is further proof of Vidroporto's satisfaction and confidence in MSK systems", states Frank Michels, Technical Manager at MSK.

Smooth bottle flow with premium quality  

MSK takes the bottles from the lehr by means of cross over and after separation feeds them to the nine inspection machines. Three Omega conveyors per line transport the bottles onwards to distribution tables where they enter the stacker in rows of 6 for palletizing. MSK bottle conveying systems are made of stainless steel and premium components for extra long life. The modular design ensures optimal layer formation and fully automatic, smooth running of bottle conveying systems.

Fully automatic palletizing system

With the MSK Duotech system, Vidroporto has once again opted for a powerful and low-maintenance palletizing system. The palletizing design that has been delivered is a complex system with an integrated centering frame and intermediate tier sheet inserter. An MSK dressing line prepares empty pallets for palletizing by covering the wooden pallets with a film bottom sheet. Thus, in the subsequent pallet packaging, 6-fold product protection is achieved. MSK Duotech palletizers are characterized by low wear, since the palletizing column stands firmly on the ground and only the arm pivots around the column. The MSK Unitech palletizer head palletizes a wide variety of glass containers without change-over times at job change.

Pallet packaging in tried and trusted MSK quality

The MSK Paratech shrink packaging machine is MSK's best-selling and most popular packaging machine in the glass industry. The reasons for the success of the hood applicator are its simplicity and ease of maintenance: The ground-level film feeder is easily accessible and therefore very easy to service. The film hood is opened in unique manner by a natural accumulation of air, so no artificial air supply is required. The MSK Econotech integrated mixing air heating system operates at low temperatures and with concealed heating elements so that no flames but only hot air is released from the shrink frame. "This technology produces gentle shrinkage and allows the use of very thin films. MSK offers a 5-year warranty on the maintenance-free MSK heating elements", as Frank Michels explains. The packaging machine is designed for a packaging rate of up to 80 pallets per hour. At the customer's request, a horizontal strapper and a vertical strapper can be fitted upstream of the MSK system, both of which are integrated into the overall control process.

Automated pallet material flow

Vidroporto uses an MSK shuttle car with two pallet positions to supply the palletizer with interlayers and empty pallets that have been bottom-lined with foil beforehand in the MSK dressing line. This replaces the fork-lift truck traffic between the palletizer and the film packaging machine, thus ensuring a smoother production flow. The specially selected wheels of the MSK Linktech shuttle cars ensure low noise and low vibration transport of the as yet unpacked, palletized glass products. MSK shuttle cars are also available with a maintenance and wear-free inductive drive, so that fitting power rails, trailing cables and ceiling suspensions are not required. Learn more about the MSK product range for an automated pallet material flow. For products with special requirements MSK develops individual solutions of pallet conveyor technology.

Overall monitoring of the cold end

With the aid of the MSK EMSY control software, the entire cold end at Vidroporto can be controlled in a clear and consistent manner. The MSK software is tailored to MSK equipment for the cold end and thanks to 3D animations allows intuitive operation of the machinery without a great deal of prior knowledge. Recently, MSK introduced a customer editor with which the customer can complement or change functions without any programming skills or additional software (or licence). Furthermore, the application MSK Emsy Move has been developed so that drive mechanisms can be easily configured directly on site using a tablet PC. "As regards the control of the entire cold end, MSK EMSY offers significant savings benefits, since for example, all parameters of a line can be transferred automatically to the palletizer's PLC without being re-entered. The software also provides an overarching process data analysis for controlling purposes. The overall efficiency of the cold end thus becomes visible and controllable", adds Frank Michels.

Rapid installation and initial operation

MSK handled the installation and commissioning of the entire cold-end equipment in a limited time frame. The new glass factory went into production within just five weeks after start of installation and very quickly reached the desired performance. "Collaboration with our customer was excellent and team work between the MSK sites in Kleve (Germany), France and Hungary just perfect. All systems were manufactured entirely in our production plant in Hungary and installed by the Hungarian specialists on site in Brazil", says Frank Michels. "Vidroporto was very pleased with the quality installed and also gave us an acceptance report very quickly".

Performance guarantee

Besides MSK, the other partners of the CONTAINER GLASS ALLIANCE were involved in equipping the new glass plant in Porto Ferreira. The Glass Alliance supplies glass container producers with everything from batch and cullet processing by Zippe, design and manufacture of glass melting furnaces by the company Horn Glass by way of the hot end and inspection machines from Emhart Glass, right up to the cold end, from the lehr to the final packaging by MSK. For the complete equipment from these four leading international plant manufacturers, Vidroporto has received a performance guarantee that is still being implemented today.