Beaucaire, France, is the site of a Bacardi plant where six bottling lines have been reduced to two highly efficient lines. In the process, the number of bottles produced per minute has been increased and the number of operators greatly reduced.
The improvements came about as decision makers at the plant looked for ways of optimizing operations. All kinds of packaging equipment was retained as the two new lines took shape. But conveyor connections are mostly new, and new case erecting and case packing equipment was installed, as well.
The newly optimized lines reflect the beverage line engineering expertise of Gebo Cermex. Headquartered in France and possessing a global network of offices and manufacturing facilities, the firm came into being in April of 2013 with the merger of Gebo, a well known name in the field of conveying and material handling, and Cermex, a proven leader in overwrapping and end-of-line equipment for a variety of consumer packaged goods. Operating as part of the Sidel Group, Gebo Cermex operates autonomously, allowing its experts to deliver best-in-breed packaging line engineering solutions.
So why were there six separate lines at Beaucaire in the first place? According to Eric Tourain, Manufacturing Director at the Beaucaire facility, it was brought about by the variety of products and container shapes that are run in the plant. “We have vodka, liqueur, tequila, and vermouth,” he observes, “and many of them come in a variety of flavors. In all we have 20 different products and 24 different bottle shapes. All glass, and all from 200 mL to 2 L.”
What the Gebo Cermex integrators came up with is one high-speed line for longer runs, which replaces two lines used formerly, and a second flexible line for shorter runs, which replaces four lines used formerly. Both lines have two fillers. On Line 1 it’s because whenever production switches from spirits to vermouth, the filler must be sterilized prior to a production run. “With two fillers in place, we can be sterilizing the vermouth filler while producing spirits on the other filler,” says Tourain. On Line 2, one filler is dedicated to Get—a liqueur with mint used as an aperitif or in cocktails that was created by Jean and Pierre Get in 1796—and the other is used for a variety of products.
Line 1 features a complete Gebo conveying system with pressure-free movement of bottles at speeds to 300/min, though nominal operating speed is 265/min. The conveyors are designed with a mechatronics approach, giving priority to simple and efficient mechanical principles combined with the best in electronics and computer networks. As a result, each element connects quickly to existing interfaces and is easily integrated into the modular architecture of the PLC used for centralizing all parameters. Movigear drives from SEW-Eurodrive are standard on the Gebo Cermex conveyors, which keeps power consumption to a minimum.
