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Labatt drives toward networked bottling lines

Labatt Breweries upgrades bottling line conveyors with compact drives that smooth production, enhance network communications and simplify troubleshooting.

Touch screen (inset) provides centralized monitoring and control of the entire production line (below).
Touch screen (inset) provides centralized monitoring and control of the entire production line (below).

With an output of 1ꯠ bpm of beer on one packaging line alone, Canada’s Toronto-based Labatt Breweries has no time for shut-downs and no room for errors. In early 1998, though, aging drive technology throughout the conveyor network in Labatt’s London, Ontario, plant and a lack of network communications forced periodic system shutdowns that were untimely and difficult to correct.

Labatt partnered with drives manufacturer Rockwell Automation (Milwaukee, WI) and systems integrator SNA Automation (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) to improve packaging line speed, diagnostics, motor control and communications.

The solution meant upgrading conveyor systems on multiple lines with Rockwell’s compact Allen-Bradley variable-speed drives that are networked via DeviceNet™. Redesigned operator interface screens have brought simpler programming and troubleshooting, too. Overall line control and network communications were also enhanced.

Benefits include centralized control from a central human/machine interface (HMI) along with system status updates and trending information. Changeout of drives is also simplified on the rare occasions when one needs replacing.

With an annual production capacity equivalent of 28 million 24-count cases of 341 mL (11.53 oz) bottles, the London brewery brews and packages around a dozen major brands such as Labatt Blue and John Labatt Classic. The facility operates four packaging lines, three dedicated to glass bottles and one for cans. Each glass line comprises several intricate conveyor systems to guide bottles through the cleaning, filling, crowning, pasteurizing, drying, labeling and secondary packaging.

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