P&G now licensing blowmolding simulator

By Matthew Defosse

Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble introduces hundreds of new products each year, many marketed in new blowmolded packaging. P&G has honed its skills by using a proprietary simulation program for years. Now other blowmolders can access some of the leader's technology.

P&G is now making many of its proprietary engineering technologies commercially available to outside companies. One of the first outsiders to jump on the deal was Stress Engineering Services (SES). David Tekamp, at Stress Engineering Service's office near Cincinnati, OH, coordinated the firm's acquisition late last year of a license for P&G Virtual Package Simulation (VPS) software.

Tekamp says the firm has exclusive rights to the VPS software for a period of time, which he prefers not to disclose. As Tekamp explains, SES has offered similar services for many years as part of its engineering services, but the VPS program will allow it to go much farther in helping customers who are designing blowmolded packaging. Because Virtual Package Simulation allows more design evaluation in less time, SES reckons it will encourage innovation at bottle blowmolders, and save time and assets devoted to ineffective prototyping. Packaging engineers can try out a variety of designs in an inexpensive virtual environment before committing costs to physical prototypes.

"What is different with VPS [from other blowmolding simulation models] is that it automates more of the work, especially repeated procedures, so that calculations are more efficient, more cost-effective, and are completed more quickly," says Tekamp. "The VPS system, which has been proven through multiple product cycles at P&G, offers our clients high-level, affordable simulation on a fast turnaround." For example, he notes that brandowners in the beverage industry often look at many different bottle designs before deciding on the one they want. VPS enables Stress Engineering to quickly compare each of the designs based on criteria established by the end user. "Using VPS we can determine how much top-load each bottle can stand at a certain weight, or we can enter in bottles with different weights and tell you what the maximum top-load strength at each weight is."

Put another way, the program allows bottle designers and processors to compare not only apples with apples, but also apples with oranges.

Stress has had its VPS license only since mid-December 2004, but Tekamp says his firm is already in talks with potential customers. In mid-January he was at work on a marketing campaign, but one of the questions then being debated at SES was how much to talk up the new product. "Regarding what sort of savings blowmolders can expect, we are having a lot of internal discussions. But the savings are significant."

VPS is based on software from Abaqus Inc. (Providence, RI), and it includes four modules, all of which, so far, are only suitable for evaluating empty bottles. One, Virtual Race Track, simulates how bottles perform on a standard packing line. This helps processors ensure that bottle designs do not negatively impact conveyance-system efficiency. The Structures module simulates how the package will perform under standard loading conditions such as filling and shipping. Designers can use it to identify areas on bottles that can be lighter (where possible) and stronger (where needed). Tekamp says this module can simulate stress resulting from vacuum or squeezing, as well as top-loads and hydrostatic loads (how much a bottle bulges when filled).

The Autoseal module improves closure designs by automatic analysis of sealing performance. "This allows us to look at seal design between a cap and a bottle, and evaluate your design before you commit to production tooling," explains Tekamp. While other simulations for sealing only work with nominal sizes, the Autoseal module lets processors consider standard tolerance extremes "to make sure the design always works." Torque settings on capping equipment are factored into the calculations.

The last module is the only one limited to a single process and material. The BOWS (bottle optimal weight system) module optimizes high-density polyethylene (HDPE) use for extrusion blowmolding and makes sure the bottle meets loading specifications. Tekamp says that it likely also functions for polypropylene. For bottle blowmolders-juggling more new products each year with heightened time-to-market demands, tools such as VPS can only be coming at the right time. MD

Sabmann makes way into EBM market

It's a tough market now for manufacturers of extrusion blowmolding machinery, but that is not stopping the principals of Sabmann Blasformtechnik Ltd., a firm with a German name but manufacturing facilities in Thailand.

The firm is headed by two experienced insiders: Andreas Oleschkowitz began his career with blowmolding extrusion-head manufacturer W. Muller GmbH, and his partner, Sakolkiat Hoonkaeo, was the founder and former owner of blowmolding machine maker SMC Corp., also based in Thailand.

Oleschkowitz says the firm does not offer the usually low-budget Asian-made blowmolding machinery, but is shooting for Western-quality machinery at a price less than those of machines made in the West. Now in Asia, and certainly in the rest of the world, cost pressure and competition have increased so much that processors, regardless of location, cannot afford to use inefficient machinery, notes Oleschkowitz, explaining the firm's sales base to date in Asia.

For instance, he says, the firm recently supplied one of its smallest machines to an Asian processor who had been running five inexpensive, but inefficient, machines. The processor now saves significantly on energy consumption, labor costs, floor space, and rejects.

Sabmann just opened a new factory close to Bangkok with top-line machining centers, says Oleschkowitz. The firm's machines serve a range of markets including multicavity, multilayer bottle processing, and offers machines in standard sizes as well as long-stroke units for higher-cavity tooling. To date the extrusion blowmolding machines have been placed at Asian processors, but sales into Europe and elsewhere are planned soon. The firm already markets its injection blowmolding machinery range globally. MD

Keeping tabs

During last October's K show, Danish firm OutputControl.com shared space at the booth of blowmolding machinery manufacturer Graham Machinery Group. Franz Bech, managing director at the OutputControl.com, explained that his firm offers processors an Internet-based, real-time production monitoring system. The companies made their cooperation formal during the show. Graham now builds so that all of its shuttle blowmolding machines are prepared for direct interface to OutputControl.com.

Matthew Defosse mdefosse@modplas.com

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