ORLANDO, FLA. (April 17, 11 a.m. ET) — Armed with a line of grass-colored bottles and a new double-station shuttle machine, Bekum America Corp. was seeing green at NPE2012.
Bekum demonstrated its newest machine, the BM-606D, a fully-automated, high-speed shuttle machine, by running a line of large, 10-liter handle ware bottles.
The bottles not only show the machine’s capabilities, it shows Bekum’s commitment to sustainability, said Gary Carr, national sales director.
The bottles are made with Braskem SA’s “I’m Green” plant-based polyethylene. The resin, which is made from sugar cane, can be dropped into PE production, as its performance and processing requirements are the same as a petrochemical-based resin, Carr said.
Using green materials allows Bekum to do their part to promote sustainability, he said.
“We don’t make the raw materials, we don’t enforce that. But we can work with the industry to make sure we can work with green resins,” he said.
The bright-green bottles are also made using a specialized design and mold that offers a 15 percent bottle-weight reduction.
The mold was designed by M.C. Molds (booth 2683), a neighbor and frequent partner of Bekum located in Williamston, Mich.
The dual-cavity mold can manufacture two bottles. The resulting bottle is lightweight, but still stands up to top load and other requirements, said Bill Simpson, sales manager for M.C.
The new shuttle machine is also designed to be fast and efficient, Carr said.
“If we can make the same bottle a little faster, using less energy, that’s a good thing,” he said.
According to Bekum, the machine features generous clamp dimension and high clamping force without sacrificing speed and flexibility. It can be used for a broad range of bottles, canisters, and technical parts, as well as dedicated production runs.
