Krones has successfully developed and produced a small-cavity drawing blow-molding machine. SK series machine adopts the Contiform technology platform which has been tested and equipped with 30 or 40 injection molding stations. The mold carrier can be used to carry PET bottles with a capacity of 750 ml.
This design concept is favored by the market. Krones has used this type of high-performance machinery for the two leading PET bottle manufacturers: Visipak Australia and South Eastern Container.
South Eastern Container is the largest producer of PET bottles for Coca-Cola in the United States. Its preforms and finished bottles produced at its plants are all made by Coca-Cola Company using high-speed machinery. Krones used the design concept of a small mold cavity machine to get the contract for the first time.
South Eastern Container installed a 40-station Contiform SK 40 model at its production facility in early 2003. The company has also set a world record as a PET bottle manufacturer: The two SK 40 blow molding machines are the first blow molding machines to produce 60,000 0.5-liter bottles per hour. In this way, the output requirement of 1,500 bottles per hour for each blow station can be accommodated. Therefore, the main focus is on the concept of loading and unloading of preforms and finished bottles. Because, this speed can also accelerate the production of PET bottles.