The arrival of the innovative ErgoBloc technology is a turning point for Volvic’s parent company, Danone, in Europe. It reflects an investment plan aiming to maintain a high level of competitiveness in the bottled water markets. “In order to anticipate future challenges in terms of energy and space savings, as well as bottle lightening and the use of recycled materials, we selected the Krones ErgoBloc L. Based on the joint experience we've already gained over the past eight years with the Danone group at several sites in Southeast Asia, the ErgoBloc L solution clearly emerged as the most sustainable one," explains Bruno Perrier, Engineering Manager at Volvic. The order is for a package of five wet-end blocks from Krones, four of which will go to France and one to Spain. With them, Danone is driving its vision of upgrading the company's water production in Europe across the board with improved technology and, at the same time, deepening its successful partnership with Krones.
Record speed: 75,000 square bottles per hour
The first ErgoBloc L in Volvic, France, is already in operation, filling the still water brand Volvic eau minérale naturelle at 56,000 square 1.5-liter rPET containers per hour. Now, the second Krones wet-end block is nearly ready to go online. It will fill the natural mineral water in square 0.5-liter bottles made of 100 percent rPET – at a record speed of 75,000 containers per hour. The block is likewise equipped to change over to 1.5-liter bottles, which it can process at 56,000 containers per hour.
