| Author | Dutta, Abhishek |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
Degree of Master of Engineering in
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The world of flexible laminate producers are becoming extremely competitive day by day and most of the intra industry competition is based on cost advantage. It has been a challenge for such industries to be able to come out innovative packaging material which not only is able to compete on the quality front with the presently used material but also reduce the cost of packaging for their B2B buyers. Against this background this present study was positioned with the main objective to understand and assess whether Metalized
BOPET ( Bi-axially oriented polyethylene terephthalate) based structure can replace the Aluminum foil based structure in coffee packaging which has been widely used as
packaging materials for coffee. The Coffee merchandisers favour aluminium because of its glossy nature (customer attractiveness), good barrier properties and easiness to cut-open the packages while in use by the coffee consumers. This study used secondary survey, primary research and laboratory research as methodology to understand usability of MPET based structure replacing Aluminium based laminates in coffee packaging. It researched
out 13 relevant parameters related to applicability of MPET film based structure which allows its comparison with Aluminum foil based structure. This study suggests that MPET based laminate structure like µPrintedPET+15µExtrudedPE+12µMPET/15 Mic Ext PE +30µPE can safely be used replacing presently used Aluminum structure like 12µPET+18µPE Extruded+9µAl foil/18µExt PE +45µPE. This MPET based structure would be cost effective and comparatively reduce laminate Cost per square meter of laminate by 31.83 percent over Aluminum based structure. This is a huge saving in all practical purposes. However, in order to take advantage of reduced cost the producer has to
keep in mind that shelf life of MPET is lower by 30 days. However, other advantages
associated with MPET structure like higher Optical density, better barrier properties in
case of OTR, WVTR and Pinhole, particularly in flexed condition, still make MPET
extremely good for packaging of coffee. This study also touched upon consumers’
preference while switching over from Aluminum to MPET and empirically found that buying of coffee is not at all dependent on material used for packaging. Hence, this study found wisdom in replacing usual Aluminum foil structure with MPET structure and recommended the same to the laminate producers of the world.
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| Year | 2015 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Engineering and Technology (SET) |
| Department | Department of Industrial Systems Engineering (DISE) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Industrial Systems Engineering (ISE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Bohez, Erik L. J.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Huynh Trung Luong ;Debnath, Bikash ; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship |