Azbah Waters was established in 1999 and at first filled four and five-gallon water jugs. As more and more food service businesses, hotels, and restaurants opened in Saudi Arabia, Azbah proactively began to likewise bottle its water in smaller containers, for 200, 330, and 600 milliliters, and distribute it using its own large vehicle fleet in Medina, in western Saudi Arabia. These single-serve bottles are now a large contributor to the company’s strong share of the packaged water market.
The Saudi market for bottled water is booming, driven by a growing tourism industry. And as one of the biggest water bottlers in Medina, Azbah Water is benefiting directly from this trend. To keep up with demand, the company now counts on a new high-speed PET line from Krones.
In 2012, Azbah Water put into operation its first filling line for 330 and 600-milliliter PET bottles, rated at 18,000 bottles per hour. In 2015, another PET filling line followed, this one with 29,600 bottles per hour – plus the ability to handle 200-milliliter containers as well. In the same year, Azbah also installed a new production line for five-gallon PET jugs.
Prompted by the continued rapid growth in sales of the smaller PET bottles, Azbah Water decided in late 2019 to install a third PET bottling line. This time, the company wanted a high-speed line – and chose Krones for the first time. The new line, which is rated at 81,000 bottles per hour, was successfully commissioned in early 2021. Azbah Water now operates two bottling plants with around 215 employees, turning out some 50,000 cartons per day.
Azbah Water
| Project: | High-speed PET line for still water |
| Customer: | Azbah Water |
| Location: | Medina, Saudi Arabia |
| Commissioning: | January 2021 |
| Scope: |
The line fills still water into 330 and 200-milliliter bottles, applies wrap-around labels, and packs the finished bottles into 8x5 and 8x6-wrap-around cases or 5x4 and 6x4 shrink packs at a speed of 81,000 containers per hour. It includes the following:
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Special features:
Because of COVID-19 travel restrictions, Krones’ local Saudi service team monitored the entire installation and commissioning. During acceptance testing, the line achieved an efficiency of 97.95 percent.
“When we decided on the new line, we were especially persuaded by the low energy consumption and reduced demands on personnel, which we view as the great advantages of the ErgoBloc technology,” explains Majed Bakheet Al Nazzawi, the sole owner of Azbah Water. “We will build more PET bottling lines as market demand allows,” he says.
Azbah Water
