Jams from Zentis use KIC adhesives

“FAMOS – Feinste Aprikosen-Marmelade ohne Sirup” (Finest Apricot Jam Without Syrup) is what Franz Zentis called his jam, which he premiered at his grocer’s shop in Aachen back in 1900. The first step from a grocer to a jam producer had been taken. FAMOS quickly became what today would be described as a branded article – the foundation stone for the industrial enterprise Zentis had been laid. Today, Zentis GmbH & Co. KG employs around 1,300 people in Aachen, for a turnover of approximately 600 million euros. With a fruit processing capacity of several hundred tons a day, Zentis ranks as one of the biggest fruit processing companies in Europe.

For dressing the jam-jars at the plant in Aachen, Zentis uses a Krones labeller in each of the three lines, in conjunction with colfix adhesives from KIC Krones. The Krones Magazine spoke to Frank Werth and Hakan Ceylan from the technical service department  in Zentis’ small-packs division about the advantages thus obtained.

• Synthetic adhesive has performed well

  Krones magazine: A few years ago, you changed over to KIC Krones as your adhesive supplier. What were the reasons behind this decision?

  Hakan Ceylan: One of the labels we run is a closure label functioning as a seal. With the adhesive we were using from another vendor, we were having a problem, in that the adhesive was exhibiting very low viscosity, causing it to spatter all over the machine, which entailed a lot of work for cleaning the labeller. So we started to use adhesives that no longer spattered, but set very quickly. Then, though, the glue pallets dried too fast, and when the labels were being removed the heads of the seal labels tore off. From one extreme to another, you see. In winter, particularly, the adhesive didn’t cope so well with the temperature fluctuations.

  Krones magazine: Have things improved now that you’re using colfix adhesives from KIC Krones?

  Hakan Ceylan: Yes, now we’re using a synthetic colfix adhesive from KIC Krones, and it’s been performing rather well. It enables us to label jars that aren’t yet one-hundred-per-cent dry. Our jars of jam are passed through a pasteuriser, after which the water is removed from them using a blower. Afterwards, though, the jars are still a bit moist. Condensate formation on the jar, too, varies considerably, due to the different products and jar shapes involved, which makes for differences in temperature and moisture-related behaviour, to which the adhesive always has to react.

  If we were to use a very fast-setting adhesive here, for instance, we would have difficulties in detaching the labels from the glue pallets in the event of line standstills or idling times. The cleaning work involved has been much reduced with the new synthetic colfix cold glue from KIC Krones; it’s very easy to remove using a brush and water.

   
• Hotmelt adhesive for cartons despite accumulated heat

  Krones magazine: In addition, you’re using a special hotmelt adhesive from KIC Krones as a granulate for gluing the cartons. What are the main problems encountered here?

  Frank Werth: In the portion pack category, jams are packed in cartons. The portion packs themselves are not cooled, they arrive in the cartons still rather hot, and need quite a long time to cool down. This causes heat to accumulate in the pallet stack, which means that the carton itself has to be very stable, the adhesive has to react fast, and maintain its adhesion throughout the lengthy cooling-down period. So the challenges for the adhesive are quite severe.

  Krones magazine: How do you rate the service you get from KIC Krones?

  Frank Werth: If we need something, even if it’s just for test purposes, it’s always delivered promptly, together with additional information on which solution would be best for us. If we have a question, then the service people are always quick to assist us, and can offer us something appropriately specific. The consultancy part works really well.