At PDC, we supply shrink sleeve labeling and tamper evident banding machinery for a wide range of products within the food and beverage industry. Often, unique packages come our way that pose particularly exciting challenges. And we’re always ready for the next challenge! In the video below, we walk you through an innovative shrink sleeving project we recently completed for POM Wonderful, the #crazyhealthy, gluten-free, non-GMO, certified kosher beverage made 100% from the juice of whole-pressed organic pomegranates.

Just one look at the POM Wonderful bottle with its beautiful graphics and unique shape will make it clear why we chose to highlight this product as Innovation Pack #3.

The Shrink Labeling Innovation 

The R-300-TSCB shrink labeler was the best machine to sleeve the POM Wonderful container with its uniquely shaped “double-bulb” bottle. This shrink sleeve applicator is designed as a robust, multi-use shrink labeler that processes up to 400 difficult-to-label containers per minute. The R-300 is PDC’s workhorse; it’s a heavy-duty shrink labeler made for 24/7 operation.

The R-300-TSCB has special product handling that orients the products in dual counter-rotating timing screws, and then hands them off to servo-controlled gripper belts. This allows precise product handling and the best possible presentation of the packages for perfect sleeving. Additionally, this labeler has many important standard features, including a stainless-steel frame, upstream photo-eyes, material monitoring sensors and an Allen Bradley CompactLogix PLC platform. Inline quality control inspection systems, date and lot code printers, and 2D and bar code verification are available for manufacturers and contract packers who want accuracy, precision and reliability in a single system.

Also used for the POM Wonderful sleeving is a PDC Conform Series steam shrink tunnel. These proprietary steam tunnels use control systems that are exclusive to PDC's technology. One aspect which makes the POM sleeving so unique is the use of a venting micro-blade system that vents air from beneath the label during the shrinking process. By placing certain vents at very specific locations, we're able to control the shrinking process on the package, allowing the sleeve to conform perfectly to the unusual double bulb shape of the POM bottle.

The POM Wonderful sleeving project is truly an exceptional example of the use of shrink sleeves and PDC’s innovative technology. In our Shrink Lab, we can help make prototypes for you, develop all the proper film characteristics and specifications, and make test market samples. We’ll even videotape the tests in our lab so you can see the process in action.

For your next shrink sleeving project, please contact us at sales@pdc-corp.com or call (203) 853-1516.  We look forward to working with you as you bring your next new product to market!