SERAC LAUNCHES SAS 3 : THE 3RD GENERATION OF ASEPTIC FILLING MACHINES
14 June 2006 - Serac

SAS 3 has been developed to meet three major market requirements: safety,
versatility and productivity. Safety is provided with the new RABS isolator and container tracking is also possible. Safety is also guaranteed by Serac's technical expertise in the aseptic filling sector.

Versatility is guaranteed with this multi-product, multi-format, multi-materials
machine associated with a wide range of decontamination systems (dry or liquid).
Serac is therefore perfectly placed to advice its customers on the system best
adapted to their specific filling needs.

Productivity is improved with the RABS concept which eliminated the need to stop
the machine for intermediate decontamination.

Serac has been manufacturing aseptic filling machines since 1978, the date on
which the first filling machine was installed. Since then, Serac has sold over a 100 machines worldwide to leading milk and drinks processing companies. Around 70 of these machines are actually still in use today.

Within a period of 35 years, the company, located in France, has gained a
reputation as the specialist for aseptic filling applications.

With approximately 80 patents to its name, Serac has also proven its ability to
innovate and propose technical solutions perfectly adapted to market needs and
expectations.

It is therefore logical that Serac, a leader in this field, should continue in this spirit of
innovation by developing its third generation of aseptic filling machines referred to
as SAS 3 (Serac Aseptic System 3).
The SAS 3 concept Serac's extensive experience in the aseptic filling sector enables it to propose the SAS 3 which offers :
- Enhanced safety in the immediate area around the filling line thanks to the use of
a new isolator system
- Design of a versatile machine.
- Product tracking.

A new generation isolator
The innovative operating principle of the SAS 3 is based on the development of a
new isolator which is a direct descendant of the original RABS (Restricted Access
Barrier System) isolator developed for the pharmaceutical industry to eliminate the
inconveniences encountered with traditional isolators
Numerous pharmaceutical laboratories such as Pfizer, Merck, GSK, have already
adopted this concept and sales have increased 2.5 fold over the last 4 years.
The well-known advantages offers by the traditional isolator have been retained.
The operator, primary source of contamination, controls the machine from the
outside and the overpressure created inside the sterile zone prevents any risk of
contamination.
Extended sterility
The RABS isolator developed by Serac offers the following improvements:
The fundamental element of the RABS isolator, the pressurized sterile enclosure, is
not hermetically sealed: the air circulates and is renewed, thus creating an air
barrier which prevents penetration of particles.
17 June 2006

Serac launches SAS

Application of a unidirectional airflow inside the sterile enclosure enables control
and monitoring of the air flow direction from top to bottom. During production, the
sterile enclosure may only be accessed via the glove boxes. Association of all these
parameters helps maintain machine sterility during long production periods and
avoids machine stoppages for intermediate sterilization cycles.

Increased sterility with the incorporation of barrier zones :
As in all RABS applications, the sterile enclosure is surrounded by barrier zones
which are also subjected to a unidirectional airflow in order to protect the sterile
enclosure from the filling workshop. This barrier provides the sterile enclosure with
additional protection by preventing the penetration of possible exterior
contaminants.

SAS 3 a versatile concept
Another key feature is its application versatility. The SAS 3 lines meet the needs for
flexibility often encountered on the plastic bottle filling market while still attaining a
production work-rate of up to 50.000 bph.

Multi-products : On a weight filling system with Multiflow type nozzles for the filling
of a wide range of liquid or semi-liquid (with pulp or lumps, etc.) products, the SAS
3 may also be used regardless of whether the product is pH neutral or acidic.
Multi-formats : Format changes are fast and easy without the need to access the
sterile zone thanks to the use of a container neck transfer system.
Multi-materials : It is possible to fill several types of containers, such as PET or
PEHD on the same line.

Tracking
SAS 3 may also include bottle marking anywhere from the infeed to the outfeed
station. The possibility to disable a filling head using the infeed gate avoids the
unnecessary loss of bottles. Furthermore, the machine ejects "defective" bottles
with marking of the fault.
Production history is recorded to guarantee total tracking.

http://www.serac-usa.com

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