Korea Ever-Power specifies 0.8-1.0 mm body wall for 150 ml PP feeding bottle IBM on ZQ40, based on the mechanical requirements of Korean market standard feeding bottle specifications: drop resistance (1.2 m filled drop test onto ceramic tile — the standard Korean household floor surface), sterilisation dimensional stability (wall must withstand 100°C boiling water thermal expansion without deformation) and infant squeeze resistance (the bottle must not collapse under 20-30 N lateral squeeze force during infant self-feeding). At 0.8 mm PP IBM wall, the 150 ml feeding bottle passes Korean standard 1.2 m drop test with the current high-flow PP IBM grades (MFR 0.5-2.0 g/10 min, Charpy impact >20 kJ/m²) that Korea Ever-Power specifies for feeding bottle IBM. Wall thickness above 1.0 mm is not recommended for standard 150 ml PP feeding bottle IBM — wall above 1.0 mm increases container weight (increasing PP resin cost per bottle) and cycle time (longer cooling at thicker wall) without a significant additional quality benefit for standard Korean retail feeding bottle specification. Korea Ever-Power customises the PP feeding bottle preform wall design for each customer’s specific bottle height, body diameter and blow ratio to achieve the target 0.8-1.0 mm body wall specification at minimum material weight.

PP IBM feeding bottle sterilisation cycle durability depends on PP grade, wall thickness and sterilisation method. For standard food-grade PP IBM at 0.8-1.0 mm wall, boiling water sterilisation at 100°C for 5 minutes per cycle: Korea Ever-Power’s pre-delivery sterilisation cycling test demonstrates PP IBM feeding bottles maintain body OD within ±1% and height within ±0.5% for 50+ boiling water cycles — exceeding EN 14350 requirement of 50 cycles. Beyond 50 cycles, cumulative PP thermal history produces minor stress-whitening in high-stress zones (base-body junction and neck-body transition), but body OD and height dimensional change typically remains within ±1% through 100 cycles for PP IBM at Korea Ever-Power’s recommended wall thickness and PP grade. Steam autoclave sterilisation at 121°C is NOT recommended for PP IBM feeding bottles — PP HDT (heat deflection temperature) at 100-115°C means 121°C autoclave steam can cause PP IBM body distortion in the first cycle. PPSU IBM feeding bottles (HDT 210°C) are specified for 121°C autoclave sterilisation and maintain dimensional stability through 200+ autoclave cycles at Korea Ever-Power’s PPSU IBM wall specification.

Yes, but with significant changeover requirements driven by PPSU’s 340-370°C processing temperature versus PP at 210-245°C. ZQ40 barrel changeover from PP to PPSU requires: barrel temperature ramp-up from PP range to PPSU range (approximately 30-45 minute temperature equilibration time); purge the barrel with PPSU resin at PPSU processing temperature until purge output shows no PP contamination streaks (typically 15-20 purge shots); mould temperature change from PP standard (55-70°C) to PPSU (80-110°C); and startup inspection of first 10 PPSU production shots per cavity for contamination, colour uniformity and dimensional conformance. The reverse changeover (PPSU to PP) requires a controlled barrel cool-down procedure: reduce barrel temperature from PPSU range to PP range slowly (do not inject PP at PPSU barrel temperature — PP will degrade at 340-370°C); purge with PP at a transitional temperature of 260-280°C to clear PPSU residue before running PP at standard 210-245°C. Korea Ever-Power recommends scheduling PP and PPSU feeding bottle IBM in separate production blocks (weekly or monthly) rather than daily changeover, to minimise total changeover time and barrel wear from the large temperature range cycling. For customers running both PP and PPSU feeding bottles at high volume, Korea Ever-Power recommends dedicated ZQ40 machines for each material grade rather than material-switching on a single ZQ40.

IBM preform architecture is cylindrical by design — the core rod and injection cavity are both circular cross-section. This means pure oval or flat-oval (very wide oval with major:minor axis ratio above 1.5:1) feeding bottle formats are not efficiently produced by IBM. Standard round and slightly oval (1.05:1 to 1.20:1 major:minor axis) feeding bottle cross-sections are fully achievable by IBM blow mould design — the blow mould cavity can be slightly oval, and the circular preform inflates to the slight oval shape during blow inflation without significant wall uniformity penalty. Korean market feeding bottles in the 80-330 ml standard format range are predominantly round cross-section, making IBM the optimal production process for the main Korean feeding bottle market. For the premium wide-body flat-oval feeding bottle designs offered by some Korean and Scandinavian brands (major:minor axis ratio 1.3-1.6:1), EBM or injection-moulding-plus-assembly architectures are used in preference to IBM. Korea Ever-Power’s feeding bottle IBM programme serves the round and mildly oval standard Korean market format range — contact Korea Ever-Power with the specific cross-section geometry for assessment of IBM production feasibility for non-standard oval feeding bottle formats.