The role of producers of bottling and packaging technology as SMI is particularly important for the success of companies operating in the food & beverage, household cleaning, personal hygiene, chemical and pharmaceutical sector. Success which can be achieved only through an optimal combination of competitiveness, cost-effectiveness, efficiency and environment-friendliness of the manufacturing process.

With the launch of the ERGON technology SMI has shown its extraordinary capability to supply advanced solutions to the market and to provide efficient, flexible, eco-friendly, ergonomic, easy-to-monitor and easy-to-manage bottling lines and packaging machines, even more inspired by Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things (IoT) principles.
 

The SMI Group's data as of 31.12.2022

2) EBS K AND KL ERGON SERIES

• the preform heating section (tunnel) is integrated with the stretchblow moulding section (carousel) in a single, extremely compact module, that makes the system suitable to installation even on small bottling lines. This innovative preform heating module, integrated in the machine module with the stretch-blow moulder carousel features a horizontal preform feeder chain and an optimized ventilation and aeration system.
• the structure that contains the tunnel and the carousel is equipped with slightly rounded safety doors, providing more space inside the machine to perform cleaning and maintenance tasks easily and safely.
   

• The carousel of the stretch-blow moulder is equipped with motorized stretch rods controlled by electronic drives and do not require mechanical cams. This innovative solution ensures precise control of the stretch rod's path and position, as well as significant energy savings. It also makes it possible to change the stretching speed without mechanical intervention (switching cams) and greatly reduces the vibration stress on the blowing carousel compared to traditional solutions.
• the stretch-blow moulding system uses high-performance, low deadvolume valves that reduce pre-blowing and blowing times, thereby improving efficiency and the quality of the bottles produced.
• the mechanical assembly of the mould is equipped with its own motorization, which ensures the utmost precision for the up/down motion of the mould bottom and the opening/closing of the mouldholder unit. The integration of this innovative solution with the electronic stretch rod system, makes the SMI ERGON EBS K stretch-blow moulder a "cam-free" system, with considerable advantages in terms of greater kinematic accuracy, less maintenance, less vibration, less noise and increased system life.
• the machinery is managed by the Motornet System® for automation and control.
   

SMI solution for the “green factory”

The rotary, compact, efficient and ergonomic stretch-blow moulders from the EBS ERGON range, in stand alone or “combi” version, perfectly meet eco-friendly strategies and the new manufacturing paradigms of “smart & green factory”.

Ideal system for producing PET and r-PET bottles

The use of r-PET (recycled PET) for manufacturing new bottles is the core concept of circular economy, that consists in collecting materials after they have been used and processing them, so that they can be reused or recycled. Every time a PET container is recycled, its oil reserve is recovered and reused, eliminating the waste and reducing the packaging environmental impact, provided that efficient systems for managing waste and recycling exist.

Light bottles

Another strategy that contributes to the environmental protection is based on the design of even lighter PET containers, that allow to save on plastics and that, indeed, fully comply with the environmental policy of most manufacturers of beverages.

The idea takes shape
From the design to the production of containers

SMI designs and manufactures moulds and machines for stretch-blow moulding, filling and packing containers in PET. Thanks to a team of highly specialized engineers and latest generation tools, SMI is able to design, develop and virtually prototype a wide range of packaging solutions in rPET and PET, according to the customer's specific requirements.

• Advanced 3D CAD Department for the design and graphic processing of the bottles;
• accurate analysis of the customer’s requests;
• design of different containers, featuring various shapes, from the simplest to the most sophisticated;

Moulds production

• special laboratory for the production of moulds and mechanical components;
• moulds made of a special aluminium alloy;
• more than 15,000 moulds produced per year;
• a top-quality level of the moulds fabricated;
• company equipped with an FMS line consisting of 12 CNC machining centres: highly automated machines, running 7 days a week round the clock;

Preform and bottle check

• modern laboratory, equipped with sophisticated technologies for preform check;
• preform size test through a video-camera and special software comparing the dimensional parameters, measuring their thickness by infra-red rays and verifying the polymer homogeneity through polarized light equipment;
• testing of new materials or applications, especially multi-layer or hot filling preforms.
• Testing of the bottle design in order to certify and guarantee that the bottles meets pressure and volume expansion.

Detergents in PET. Practical, safe and advantageous choice

Now more than ever we are surrounded by PET containers of sanitizers and room and personal hygiene detergents.
Safety, functionality, innovation and ergonomics are the main features that the containers used by manufacturers of detergents and sanitizers must have. These characteristics can be easily achieved by using a packaging material that is now back in fashion: plastics.

Today, thanks to augmented reality, every SMI customer can benefit from immediate technical support in real time, even if they are thousands of kilometers apart. SMI has developed a remote support service, inspired by the most recent innovations in IoT and Industry 4.0, which uses augmented reality technology to create a " virtual presence" communication system.

• SMI technicians can provide increasingly effective, timely and high-quality remote support to the customer's operator, in charge of managing the machines and / or plants, guiding him during repairs and maintenance by sharing useful and practical information.
• By wearing special glasses, called Augmented Reality Glasses, the machine operator can remotely, send real-time images of the problem he is facing, to an SMI expert at the Help Desk, in order to receive direct and immediate instructions on how to resolve the critical situation.

Main advantages:

• Easy to use by any operator
• smart and efficient tool: thanks to audiovisual support, the operator does not have to send e-mails and heavy attachments (images and videos) to receive immediate assistance
• technical assistance in real time during the operating hours of the SMI Help Desk
• precise and effective remote service: seeing a situation live allows you to solve problems "at a glance"
• reduction of machine downtime and consequent higher productivity
• reduced costs: the new tool ensures savings on travel costs, as for medium-low complexity problems it will no longer be necessary to pay a technician and all the costs associated with his intervention at the plant where the machine is located.
   

Upgrades: the benefits of the latest technologies within everybody's reach