A related specification, PackTags, will be specified by SABMiller for new equipment purchased in the future. PackTags provides common names that can be used by all equipment manufacturers so that communications from different types of equipment can flow smoothly.
Those who helped develop this specification note that it provides a number of benefits, beginning with the initial ordering and set-up. “PackTags’ biggest benefit comes during commissioning,” says SABMiller’s Larry Trunek, principal engineer at Miller Brewing Co. in Milwaukee and OMAC’s PackTags subcommittee chairman. “It shortens commissioning time dramatically.”
It has added benefits. Trunek notes that when set points such as cases or containers per minute are transferred during a changeover, using a standard like PackTags minimizes the chance that there will be confusion. For example, a bottle filler could be communicating on the basis of containers per minute while the secondary packaging equipment is counting by cases per minute. “With closely coupled machinery, the results can be devastating,” notes Trunek.
