Mastering Complex Production Sequences

The Störtebeker Braumanufaktur of Straslund, Germany, shows a pioneering spirit not only in regard to new types of beer it offers in returnable glass but also in terms of how it has expanded its production capacities and greatly optimized the controls systems that underpin production.

Filling, packaging, IT, and intralogistics have all taken a big step forward thanks to solutions all provided by Krones, solutions that enable the brewery to cope successfully with even the most complex production sequences.The Varioline packaging system works with ten robots, distributed among four modules, which enables the machine to handle a total of 18 different packaging variants.

Krones’ scope of supply included not only a new energy-efficient bottling line rated at 40,000 returnable glass bottles an hour but also a high-bay warehouse with just under 30,000 pallet slots from System Logistics, a member of The Krones Group. Also featured is full-coverage networking of the production operation with solutions from Syskron, also part of The Krones Group, and Triacos, a Syskron subsidiary. The existing bottling line, a new bottling line, a kegging line, and the high-bay warehouse—plus the empties sorting system and goods-dispatch zone—are all interconnected via a floor track system.

The principal task here was to streamline the complex work sequences involved, thus upgrading the production operation’s efficiency. “As I always say, here on our premises we’ve got ten breweries in one because each of our beers is packed in its sort-specific crate,” says the brewery’s owner Jürgen Nordmann. Störtebeker’s beers—all 25 varieties—are offered in the brewery’s own uniquely distinctive crates and likewise in closed paperboard six-packs. This is why the brewery opted for the Krones Varioline packaging system, which is capbable of handling not only crates and closed baskets but another 16 different packaging variants as well.

‘Most modern version’

Closeup of the Varioline packaging system in action.Krones points to Störtebeker’s Varioline system as the most modern version currently up and running. It is the first to feature the new TIA (Totally Integrated Automation) control system from Siemens, enabling a maximum degree of automation to be achieved. Yet another beneficial side effect is this: the layout installed at Störtebeker takes up only about half the space that more traditional packaging machinery offering the same output would need.