Resilux and PET Technologies cooperate on laboratory blow molding machine in Switzerland

With 26 years of expertise in blow molding machinery, PET Technologies has collaborated and partnered with Resilux on numerous shared projects involving preforms for other customers. This long-standing relationship, built on trust and technical alignment, made the transition to a direct project smooth and natural.

Why Laboratory Blow Molding Machines Matter

Not every PET bottle is made on a high-speed, high-volume line from the beginning. For major corporations, behind every well-performing preform or bottle shape is a lab phase, where testing, validation, and material analysis happen. That’s where laboratory blow molding machines come into play.

Customers, the majority of which are multinational corporations from North America, Latin America, and Europe, have shown a growing interest in PET Technologies semi-automatic solution for laboratory needs. Already, many units of the laboratory UPF-5M are installed in their facilities and benefit their bottle and preform testing capabilities. 

A Versatile Solution for a Demanding Role

Modern PET producers require flexibility, precision, and efficiency, even in compact equipment. That’s exactly what the UPF-5M delivers. While it may appear to be a simple semi-automatic unit, the machine is engineered to adapt to a wide range of customer needs, making it a truly universal solution for laboratory testing, new production runs or preform validation. 

Key capabilities include:

• Produces up to 800 bottles per hour, supporting efficient and small pilot runs
• Handles bottle volumes up to 6 liters, offering flexibility for a wide range of applications
• Compatible with neck finishes up to 110 mm, suitable for both standard and wide-mouth formats
• Operates at blowing pressure up to 40 bar, ideal for demanding bottle shapes and testing
• Supports both two-cavity and single-cavity molds, for extra flexibility
• Compatible with rotary mold cavities, so clients can repurpose existing tooling for trials or limited runs
• Compact design, easy to install in laboratories or space-limited production environments

From Conversation to Collaboration

The first spark of this project came from a friendly visit by the Resilux team to the company stand at BrauBeviale 2023. It wasn’t a formal negotiation, but rather an open, technical exchange. Their engineers shared early ideas and challenges related to preform testing across their injection molding operations. What stood out from the very beginning was their clarity of expectations and their trust in finding the right partner.

They were exploring the possibility of integrating a compact and reliable blow molding unit for laboratory use on their Switzerland facility, and they were looking for a solution that could support consistent quality control across their preform production.

With a strong background in delivering similar solutions to clients worldwide, PET Technologies was ready to offer more than a standard configuration. PET Technologies understood the need for accuracy, ease of use, and flexibility, especially for a company operating at the scale and standards of Resilux.

With a large fleet of injection molding lines across multiple plants, Resilux needed to validate how each preform performs when blown into a final bottle. For every batch, their laboratory team blows around 60 samples to detect variations in material behavior or geometry. Even small deviations can lead to downstream quality risks, so the new solution had to make these issues visible long before production begins.

Eventually both sides aligned in their vision on what was needed. A tailored laboratory version of the UPF-5M emerged as the best option — compact, dependable, and ready to meet the rigorous demands of a Resilux laboratory.

Machine Shaped Around Resilux’s Requests

When a customer comes to the firm with specific machine modification requirement like: workflow, sensor or layout, the firms treats them as essential parts of the project, not afterthoughts. That’s exactly how it was with Resilux.

From the start, their team clearly outlined how the equipment should integrate into their lab and what features were needed to support safe, confident testing. Together, the companies modified the UPF-5M to meet those requests:

• Light curtains were installed to stop the machine immediately if anything enters the working zone.
• A customized protective screen was added to shield the blowing area and reinforce safety.

These upgrades made the machine feel like a natural extension of Resilux’s lab from day one. It didn’t disrupt their process, it supported it. And that’s our approach in every project: to deliver equipment that isn’t just technically sound, but adapted to the specific needs of the company and the people who work with it every day.

Blow Molds for Preform Testing

Along with the machine, PET Technologies supplied two new blow mold sets for Resilux — 0.5 L and 1 L dairy bottle formats, developed per the client’s request. Using their own white preforms, Resilux conducts controlled blowing tests on the UPF-5M to evaluate preform quality, bottle behavior, and overall performance.

A Reliable Link in the Quality Chain

At Resilux, every part of the production process is backed by data — and the UPF-5M has become one of the tools that helps generate it. By integrating the machine into their lab routine, the team can monitor how preform batches behave blown into bottles and ensure that each batch aligns with production targets. 

Project Significance and Client-Focused Solutions

This machine marked a few firsts for PET Technologies:

• the first machine installed in Switzerland;
• the first supplied directly to Resilux — a company they have known and respected for years through shared projects. 

Now, that cooperation has taken a new step, and PET Technologies are proud to support Resilux in-house quality control with a solution built around their real needs.

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