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Hot-melt retrofit improves safety, efficiency

A retrofit from a manual to an automatic hot-melt adhesive system improved employee safety, increased production efficiency, and reduced the risk of downtime.

Erected corrugated cases after bottom-sealing, ready to be case-packed
Erected corrugated cases after bottom-sealing, ready to be case-packed

The brewery Schützengarten AG of St. Gallen, Switzerland, was founded in 1779, making it the oldest of its kind in the beer-friendly country. Despite its vintage, the brewery is known for its investment in modern automation and technology. To produce the roughly 175,000 annual hectoliters of beer that it does, its lines need to be state-of-the-art.

Schützengarten recently replaced all of its dry automation systems in the bottling area, primarily in case erecting, case packing, sealing, and associated functions. KHS in nearby Dortmund, Germany, who served as integrator and general contractor on the project, selected a Gerhard Schubert case erecting and case packing system fitted with a Robatech adhesive application system.

When the new packaging line was first commissioned, the adhesive application portion consisted of two Concept Diamond type melters for manual filling with adhesive granulate and ten SX Diamond double jetting heads with corresponding heated hoses. In the first section of the packaging system, the erected corrugated cases are glued on the bottom fold and the sides. After that, the bottles are inserted into the corrugated cases. The last section glues the cover fold. Thus, the corrugated cases are sealed and ready for shipment.

Schützengarten uses the packaging system to achieve a throughput of around 27,000 bottles/hour. With manual granulated adhesive filling, this means that the operating personnel must refill the tanks of the two melters every 20 minutes. Though the tanks are equipped with level sensors and warn against idling, the staff must continuously monitor and be ready for refilling.

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