Craft beer production speeds optimized with smart packaging WaveGrip systems

09 Oct 2018 --- Beverage multi-packing smart systems provider WaveGrip has helped increase Royal Docks Brewing Company’s beer output with a new packing applicator and brand defining colored carrier system. Having previously partnered with a canning company, Royal Docks switched to its own canning line in 2017. Recently, however, it has required a faster and less labor-intensive solution to keep pace with its ongoing growth: The WaveGrip G1, with speeds of up to 100 cans-per-minute (cpm) and ability to pack a full range of can sizes with minimal downtime.

Royal Dock’s G1 Applicator is currently running at just over 50cpm consistently to fit with the rest of the canning line and restrictions on manpower.

Commenting on the set-up, Dave Sutula, Brewmaster, says: “Thanks to our PS Angelus Filler, we could be running at 60cpm – well within the 100cpm limit of the G1. Currently, WaveGrip is handling our requirements so smoothly at 52, that I have no doubt it could handle up to 60.”

“We’re on track to be a 4200-barrel brewery in the next few months and thanks to the G1 and our new canning line, we think 80 percent of our output will be packaged products.”

Alongside the increase in efficiency, thanks to the G1 applicator, the WaveGrip carrier range also played a huge part in the decision-making process. With bottles being banned at most public pools, beaches, parks and even golf courses, cans were the smartest choice for Royal Docks due to their strength and portability. This meant a lightweight but secure multi-pack was needed.

Royal Docks are one of the first breweries to use the WaveGrip Colors range, using the Fury Red carrier to complement its own brewery branding.

WaveGrip is the lightest carrier on the market, according to the company, weighing less than 4g for a standard six-pack ring carrier. This is due to using less material than any other multi-packing solution. Additionally, all WaveGrip carriers are 100 percent recyclable and meet current US packaging regulations by being photodegradable.

WaveGrip Managing Director, Aaron McIvor, comments: “We’re so glad our G1 is the perfect fit for another craft brewer. We designed this machine to be suited for a wide range of business sizes and I’m particularly happy we can keep up with the current demand of Royal Docks and with the potential for more packaging output when they choose.”

Based in Canton, Ohio, Royal Docks fuses craft beer with British pub culture in a contemporary American style and was named the fifth-fastest growing brewery in the USA for 2017, the company reports.