Levissima 2019

The challenge

Levissima is the favourite natural mineral water for over ten million families in Italy, ranking among the top three bottled water brands in the country, both in terms of value and volume. The Italian water bottler needed to increase its production capacity for still water, while handling a re-designed 1.5l bottle, now with a shorter neck but still in the brand’s iconic squared shape, produced at a high output speed of more than 46,000 bottles per hour (bph).

The solution

To tackle Levissima’s specific challenges connected to the new bottle and label, Sidel installed an EvoDECO roll-fed labeller with two stations, running on every other bottle, and handling lightweight containers and ultra-thin labels. As Levissima wanted to significantly increase performance and production capacity, with no compromises on food safety, the Sidel Matrix Combi was the natural choice. The Combi supplied to the Cepina site is equipped with a Sidel SF100 no contact filler, ensuring optimum uptime and the highest productivity. In addition it also features OptiFeed® – a cap feeder that is based on a patented waterfall technology, combining elevation, orientation and high-speed feeding with energy savings. The highly flexible EIT (Efficiency Improvement Tool) was also part of the solutions Sidel supplied to this leading Italian water brand.

The outcome

The ergonomics of the labelling solution have been optimised for performance and efficiency, with all main components fully visible and accessible during production. With no need to disengage the station, this open design is particularly beneficial during changeover and maintenance. The label application on Levissima’s new squared bottles is carried out with a pad-to-pad transfer, ensuring a very stable and accurate process, even at high speeds, thus addressing the two most important points for the water producer: excellent label application and high reliability. Integrating blow moulding, filling and capping processes into a single system, the Combi reduces operating costs and uses up to 30% less floor space compared with traditional standalone equipment. Using fewer component machines, the solution offers up to 4% higher efficiency levels than standalone machines, on top of lower energy consumption and faster format changeovers. This results in a reduction of operating costs by up to 12%, saving labour, raw materials and spare parts. Automatically recording 24/7 raw production data, EIT calculates a wide array of KPIs to help measure performance, analyse production issues, detect efficiency loss sources, and perform root cause analyses. It is designed to ultimately decrease unplanned downtime, reduce waste and costs, and increase Levissima’s output.

"“We were familiar with the high quality and hygienic standards provided by the Sidel equipment. The competences and the customer-centric approach shown by its team during the commissioning and the installation phases, together with smooth project management, helped to further reconfirm our trust in the company.”"

Franco Simoncini

Plant Manager at Levissima

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