One-way-glass inspection via
miho David 2
More and more industries draw their attention to the inspection of one-way-glass. Due to years of hard work, miho managed to acquire one of the France’ biggest Champagne bottlers as customer. Especially, but not limited to, high revenue products require a flawless filling process with as few line stops as possible. Here, the quality of glassware plays an important role. Further, a loss of product should be reduced to the absolute minimum. These key indicators, together with the food safety regulations and the potential loss of reputation, due to damaged products or contaminations, play a very important role in the Champagne Industry. Again, not only the Champagne Industry, but all one-way glass bottlers face these same problems and challenges. Only the return of invest is lightning fast in the high revenue industry.
An absolute flawless appearance at the point of sale is vital for such kinds of products. Even the slightest cosmetic defect can change the customer’s opinion against a product. Critical defects however can result in the loss of product, due to breakage or even injuries of customers. In the gallery below, you can see some of the defects, the miho David 2 ASEBI found during the first hours of normal production, all defects that were not detected prior to installing a miho ASEBI in the line:
Figure 1: Air bubble, less than 1 mm in diameter in the sidewall of a champagne bottle
Figure 2: Orange skin on the bottle neck
Figure 3: Defect sealing surface
Figure 1 shows a critical defect: a small air bubble, less than 1 mm in diameter, that can cause structural weakness and thus possible breakage of the bottle. Cosmetic defects, such as orange skin.
Figure 2 do not interfere with the mechanical integrity of a bottle, but look bad and can lead to a rejection by the customer at the POS.
Defects at the sealing surface (Figure 3), for example from the capping and uncapping during the disgorging, can lead to a breakage of these high-pressured bottles and can result in injuries, whenever someone drinks directly from the bottle—not only at Formula 1.
Figure 4: Glas fragment left in the bottle; side view
Figure 5: Glas fragment left in the bottle; top view
Glass residues from the glass production (see Figure 4, Figure 5) can either be just cosmetical defects, again downgrading the appearance of the product, but can also lead to internal injuries of customers, when separating during the transportation for example. This health risk as to be avoided at any cost.
Figure 6: Layout of a miho David 2 in a Champagne filling line
As always, space is an issue for most one-way-glass bottlers, since up to now, empty container inspection via an all-side empty bottle inspector (ASEBI) was not planned for during the planning of the line. Never the less, miho succeeds in integrating a full size ASEBI in the existing line, using miho conveyance, as seen in the picture below (Figure 6).
Concluding the said, especially in the high revenue sector of packed products, a miho David 2 ASEBI pays itself in no time: For a Champagne filling line, the return of invest is calculated at roughly 2 years, from a conservative point of view, please consult Figure 7. But for every bottler of one-way-glass, the investment in a miho David 2 ASEBI pays off, due to increasingly stringent regulations of authorities, as well as customers’ demands of perfect packaging and appearance at the point of sale.
Fiugure 7: Return of invest (ROI) of a miho David 2 in a Champagne filling line
If you want to know more about the inspection of refillable or one-way glass containers,
do not hesitate to contact miho.