In Georgia, in the heart of the Caucasus, you toast with “Kobi” and “SNO” waters, produced by the Aqua Geo company in modern, fully automated, bottling and packaging systems for glass and PET bottles supplied by SMI through collaboration that began in 2011.
In the heart of the Caucasus region, Georgia is one of the richest nations in mineral and thermal waters, even if its large-scale marketing is a fairly recent activity, entrusted to leading companies such as Aqua Geo. Thanks to considerable investments made by the “food & beverage” companies, Georgia today boasts excellent production of lemonade and beer, while the mineral water sector is constantly expanding.
This phenomenon requires the use of increasingly advanced bottling and packaging technologies, such as those used by the company Aqua Geo Ltd in its carbonated water production plants under the “Kobi” brand and natural water under the “SNO” brand. To automate the bottling and packaging process, the Georgian company turned to SMI for the supply of numerous turnkey plants, which include a line for PET bottles and one for glass bottles in the Kobi plant and two end-of-lines for the secondary and tertiary packaging of SNO natural water at the Misaktsieli plant, near the village of Natakhtari, a few kilometers from the capital Tbilisi.
Kobi and SNO, the two leading brands in the sector
The two brands of mineral water marketed by Aqua Geo, SNO and Kobi, owe their name to the geographical position of the two springs from which the product flows. The carbonated water Kobi, originates in the vicinity of the village with the same name, while SNO water has a more particular history: since the foundation of the Aqua Geo company took place under the auspices of the Georgian Orthodox Church, it was decided to call the natural water produced from it, with the name of the village, SNO in fact, is where the Patriarch of this religious confession, one of the oldest in Christianity, was born.
While the production of SNO has been in operation for a decade or so, the Kobi plant is a recent project, officially launched in 2018. The journey between the springs of Kobi and SNO, winds through the inexhaustible beauty of the Caucasian valleys, with astounding views, gigantic mountains, deep gorges, rushing rivers, cities carved into the rock and hidden medieval villages, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
About Aqua Geo
Aqua Geo defines itself as a 100% Georgian company, also from the point of view of the workforce it employs. The company was founded in 2009 with the aim of marketing, locally and abroad, the high- quality mineral water that flows from Georgian springs, thus also contributing to spreading around the world, the knowledge of this extraordinary country and enhancing the progress of its economy.
In the design and construction phases of the production plants, Acqua Geo collaborated with both local companies and European partners specialized in the latest generation of bottling and packaging technologies. Today, millions of bottles of mineral water come out of the new plants located in the town of Misaktsieli, marketed through the two main brands of the company: SNO natural mineral water, whose production began in 2012, and Kobi carbonated mineral water, produced and bottled starting from 2018.
SNO mineral water for beauty
Water is essential for the well-being of every human being, both for the skin and for the body, because it transports nutrients to every cell of the body, eliminates toxins, improves blood circulation and lubricates the joints. SNO water is a fresh, tasty product, which originates in the mountains, on the southern slope of the central part of the Caucasus, at 1700 meters above sea level, and then descends to the valley forming an underground reservoir, from which it is extracted at a depth of 150 meters to be bottled and distributed by the Aqua Geo company.
It is curious to discover that the SNO factory in Misaktsieli is located near the inhabited center called “Natakhtari”, whose name is used to market the “Natakhtari” lemonade which is widespread in various Russian and Eastern European supermarkets. This town, practically a suburb of Tbilisi (capital of Georgia), is in fact an important industrial area where the production plants of companies belonging to different product sectors are located.
SMI solutions for SNO
The growing demand for SNO natural water has required new investments, for the expansion and modernization of two end-of-lines at the Misaktsieli plant. Working in close collaboration with the Aqua Geo team, SMI engineers designed an automatic solution for secondary and tertiary packaging optimized for the production needs of the Georgian company’s plant; the primary objective of the new intervention was to increase the production efficiency of the lines for the bottling and packaging of 0.5 L and 1.5 L PET bottles of SNO water.
COMPLETE END OF LINE – PET 24.000 BPH, INCLUDING:
– CSK 50F ERGON shrinkwrapper – production up to 50 packs/minute Products worked: 0.5L and 1.5l bottles in PET Packs created: bundles in film only in 6×4 and 4×3 (0.5l bottles) and 3×2 (1.5L bottles) formats
– Conveyors to carry the loose product from the out feed of the filler monobloc, accumulation conveyors before and after the labeller and conveyors to carry the packs between the packer and the palletiser
– Handle Applicator HA 60
– APS 1550 ERGON palletiser with rotating arm wrapper
Packs worked: bundles arriving from the CSK 50F ERGON packer Pallets created: europallet 800×1200 and 1000×1200
Main advantages:
• CSK ERGON packer equipped with a motorized system of oscillating guides at the entrance to the machine, which facilitates the correct channeling of loose containers on a conveyor belt equipped with chains in thermoplastic material with a low coefficient of friction
• Grouping of loose containers in the desired format carried out continuously
• Compact design film cutting unit with brushless motor run blade, which makes the cutting operation more precise
• ICOS motors equipped with integrated digital servo-drive (driver), able to simplify the wiring of the machine and ensure greater energy efficiency, less noise and reduced wear of components
• Easy maintenance
• Optimal management of product flow, through an accurate study of the accumulation, distribution and handling dynamics
• Format changeover times reduced to a minimum for the rapid transition from one production to another
• High operational reliability, thanks to the structure and components made of AISI 304 stainless steel
• Some of the lowest noise and friction levels in the industry
• Cleaning and maintenance interventions limited to a few points
• APS 1550 palletiser single-column with two cartesian axes with SCARA technology, extremely flexible to the logistical requirements of the end of line area.
• Compact structure with central column that integrates the functions of feeding the empty pallets, inserting the interlayers between one layer and another and the palletizing operations
• Reduced maintenance costs and low running costs, thanks to the machine’s simple mechanics and the use of components of robotic derivation
• Extremely simple automation and management control, thanks to the intuitive and easy-to-use man-machine interface.
End of line for tertiary packaging
SMI has also supplied a new automatic palletising system that works bundles arriving from the LSK 35T installed in 2011; this integration to the existing line comprises:
– APS 1550 ERGON palletiser with rotating arm wrapper
Containers packed: bundles arriving from the LSK 35T packer in 4×3 and 6×4 (0.33L and 0.5L bottles in PET) formats and in 3×2 (1L and 1.5L bottles in PET) formats Pallets created: europallet 800×1200 and 1000×1200 Conveyors Function: carry the packed product from the outfeed of the packer
Main advantages:
• Fluid pack movement from the outfees of the existing LSK packer
• Simple, intuitive interface man-machine
• Simplified maintenance
• Reduced changeover times from one production to another.
