Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/400294
W i n e s & V i n e s n O V e M b e r 2 0 1 4 83 For wineries of all sizes, the bottle- ordering process has changed. "In the past, wineries purchased their bottles in re-shipper cases. The bottles would be removed from the case, cleaned, filled, corked, labeled and then repacked into the reshippers", said Bryan Sinicrope, vice president of sales and marketing at A-B-C Packaging Machine Corp. of Tarpon Springs, Fla. "Wineries started purchasing bottles in bulk. It's a more economical solution and eliminates production issues caused by reusing the corrugated cases," Sinicrope said. "Small wineries can benefit from buy- ing bottles in bulk, but there are capital equipment costs to this—bulk depalletizer, case erector, partition inserter—that may make it financially unfeasible." Larger wineries led the way by moving to bulk bottle shipments; however, "If the numbers work out, smaller wineries can also benefit from this technology. Typi- cally larger wineries running between 200 and 300 bottles per minute use a bulk- bottle depalletizer. Bottle suppliers using reshipper cases can also benefit from this technology since they work with reverse-tapered bot- tles, according to Sinicrope. A-B-C's model 108RT depalletizers can run different sizes of reverse-taper and straight-sided bottles from 750ml to 1.5 liters with no change parts. The reverse-taper depalletizer cost is "typi- cally only 15% higher than standard mode depalletizers, depending on speed, conveyors and accessories required, and requires no special equip- ment or training. Filling the bottles without adding oxygen can be an overlooked concern. Bottlers with deep pockets may want to consider the new GAI electro-pneu- matic filler, which handles runs of 3,000 to 15,000 bottles per hour, offered by AWS Prospero. It brings more precise fill levels and lower levels of dissolved oxygen (D.O.), according to Prospero's Matt DiDonato. With between 12 and 48 filler spouts, it can handle bottle sizes from 375ml to 1.5 liters with no added maintenance. The precision comes from electroni- cally operated filler valves that "really nail down the fill height," DiDonato said. "You can raise the temp up the product up to 40°F, which greatly reduces D.O. levels. Four electro-pneu- matic valves are used to separately control the following circuits: 1. vac- uum 2. tank gas 3. auto-leveling 4. de-gassing." With prices up to $340,000 for 600 to 3,000 bottle-per-hour machines, this filler is aimed at large wineries and mobile bottlers. Now go shopping This is just a sample of all the packaging goodies previewed in our new listings. Take a look at all of them on pages 35 to 78 to find products to improve your packages and your business. More than 99,000 new wine labels were approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in 2013. P A C K A G I N G