25.10.2024 • Bruchsal, Nuremberg, BrauBeviale 2024: Thanks to a new line for reusable glass bottles, the Kloster Andechs brewery has increased its filling capacity from 20 000 to 24 000 bottles per hour. The tradition-steeped brewery has introduced cutting-edge, decentralized drive technology in the form of 70 decentralized MOVIGEAR® performance drive units.

Decentralized, efficient, and eco-friendly

A few years ago, the Kloster Andechs monastery brewery decided to invest in new, cutting-edge filling and transportation technology. Components installed 30 years ago were simply no longer state-of-the-art. Besides achieving a higher production output, a further priority was the environmental sustainability of the system, especially in relation to energy consumption.

The Kloster Andechs brewery tasked BMS Maschinenfabrik in Pfatter, near Regensburg, with designing the overall layout of the filling line for reusable bottles in the new building housing the bottling plant. The brewery wanted to use energy-efficient, decentralized drives on the various conveyor lines for the bottles and crates. Based on previous good experiences with decentralized drives from SEW‑EURODRIVE, it once again opted to use the Bruchsal-based drive automation specialist. MOVIGEAR® performance drive units from the MOVI‑C® modular automation system were selected for this project. Certified as energy efficiency class IE5, these units can be controlled via PROFINET, which was another thing the brewery had asked for. It was the first system SEW‑EURODRIVE had designed for a brewery customer, and the first to be installed in Germany.

The work needed to be completed very quickly. To avoid a lengthy period of downtime, a new building was constructed for the bottling plant. As a result, switching production only took a few days. At the same time, new storage capacity was to be created. The existing building is now used as a warehouse for around 1500 pallets, each holding 40 beer crates, which amounts to a total of 1.2 million 0.5-liter bottles.

The Kloster Andechs brewery's new filling system has a capacity of 24 000 bottles per hour. Across an area almost equivalent to ten tennis courts, the roughly 2500-square-meter factory building houses the bottling plant and the palletizing system, complete with warehousing. Besides the increased throughput and improved energy efficiency, protecting staff and complying with high hygiene standards were also considered very important when constructing the new building. Water consumption was cut, and further improving the dispensing of cleaning agents reduced the environmental impact. The new filling system has been in operation for four years now, and the customer is completely satisfied.

edg.marktmanagement@sew-eurodrive.de
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