Bottling & Packaging Line Change Parts

Every filler, capper, labeller, and rinser on a bottling line handles containers through machined plastic parts: star wheels that index bottles through each station, timing screws that space them on the infeed, and guide rails that steer them between machines. When the line changes container format, the whole set swaps out. That makes change parts one of the most regularly ordered machined-plastic packages in Australian manufacturing, and one we machine locally from HDPE and UHMWPE.

A star wheel's pockets must match the container diameter within fractions of a millimetre. Too loose and bottles rattle and mis-index at speed, too tight and they jam or scuff. We CNC-machine star wheel pockets directly from the container drawing or from sample containers, in HDPE for general lines and UHMWPE for high-speed lines where wear life and gentle handling matter most.

Timing screws (the helical infeed screws that pitch containers to machine spacing) are machined from solid HDPE rod and billet with the flight profile developed for your container and line speed. Bored and keyed to your drive shaft, they arrive ready to fit.

Between machines, containers run in machined guide rails: straight sections, curves, and merge/divide sections that keep product tracking at speed. UHMWPE is the standard rail material because its low friction lets containers slide without powered assistance and it will not mark glass or scuff PET. We machine rails to your conveyor layout, including bends cut to radius and slotted mounting for adjustment.

The same machining capability covers the consumable wear items around the line: wear strips under chain tracks, corner tracks, transfer plates between conveyors, and deadplates at machine infeeds. If it is plastic and it touches a container or a chain, we can machine it.

Launching a new bottle size normally means ordering a change-part kit from the line OEM, often from Europe, often with lead times measured in months. We machine complete kits locally: 10 to 50 parts per kit depending on the line, all CNC-machined as a matched set from the container drawing, labelled by station, and test-fitted against sample containers before dispatch.

Existing OEM parts can be reverse-engineered from samples. We measure the geometry, machine replacements, and keep the program on file so repeat kits are identical every time.

Beverage and food packaging lines wash down daily with caustic and chlorinated chemicals. HDPE and UHMWPE shrug off both, do not absorb moisture, and comply with food-contact requirements. So the same parts serve dairy, beverage, brewing, and pharmaceutical lines without material changes. Material certificates are available with every order for QA documentation.

Beverage line specs frequently call up Tivar or Ertalyte by brand. Our engineering plastic trade names guide matches those names to the materials we machine star wheels and change parts from.

Get a quote for bottling and packaging line change parts. Send us your container drawing, part samples, or the OEM parts list, and we will price a locally machined kit with turnaround in weeks, not months.