Molson Coors’ Serbian brewery heightens hygiene and efficiency with KHS Innofill can filler

15 Oct 2021 --- Molson Coors Serbian plant run by its subsidiary Apatinska Pivara Apatin has invested in a KHS Innofill Can DVD can filler and revamped two glass lines. Apatinska Pivara Apatin has used KHS-engineered technology by KHS for over four decades.

Apatin Brewery has significantly optimized its line efficiency and product quality by taking these modernization measures, also benefiting from improved hygiene and savings in energy and media.

“Our old machines could no longer meet our current demands regarding product quality, performance and sustainability,” explains Tanja Popović, packaging manager at Apatin Brewery. “Together with our colleagues from KHS, we devised a sophisticated concept for modernizing our lines.”

Resource savings
KHS started revamping the first glass line back in 2014. The brief was to reduce media and electricity consumption on the bottle washer. By installing ECO carriers, the KHS engineers “considerably optimized” the system’s resource efficiency and economy.

“The machine now not only uses a lot less water and caustic and fewer additives, it also consumes less energy,” notes Bojan Culibrk, KHS’ local service manager.In 2020, Apatin Brewery invested in KHS’ Innofill Can DVD can filler.

Four years later, Apatin Brewery took the next step toward more environmentally sustainable production by modernizing one of its glass fillers. The KHS specialists replaced the old vacuum pump with a new ECO variant, which feeds process water back into the system after treatment.

“On the one hand, we’ve cut media consumption, and on the other, the filler is now more economical and more efficient,” says Culibrk. The Serbian bottler also procured the ECO vacuum pump for its second glass filler.

Optimized product quality
The brewery, founded in 1756, also commissioned KHS to install a new capper turret, which is easier to clean than the previous model. “It lowers the risk of product contamination and, as a result, hygiene is improved,” explains Culibrk. Moreover, KHS optimized the cap quality on the glass bottles.

Apatinska Pivara Apatin also automated its plant technology by using HMI panels integrated on the glass lines and new can filler. According to Popović, this makes the machine much easier for operators to use, as all sequences are automated, and many of them have been digitized.

“The new programs for product changeover, sanitizing and filling speed up our processes. Using this state-of-the-art technology, we achieve a much higher level of production efficiency and avoid unplanned downtime thanks to improved safety and reliability in the filling,” she says. The HMI system also detects wear parts in advance, meaning replacements can be ordered quickly.Using HMI panels makes the machine easier to operate. All processes are now automated and many of them have been digitalized.

Efficient beverage canning
In 2020, the brewery invested in an Innofill Can DVD filler. “We had to boost our capacity in this segment to meet the growing demand for beverages in cans,” continues Popović. “With our new filler, we can process up to 25,000 0.5-liter cans an hour. We’re also more efficient and sustainable.”

According to the company’s statistics, the output runs to more than two million hectoliters per annum. The brewery fills all of its brands into containers holding 0.33 and 0.5 liters on the Innofill Can DVD, including Jelen, Jelen Chill, Jelen Cool, Apatinsko, Staropramen, Bavaria, Nikšićko and Nikšićko Tamno.

The brewery mainly supplies the regional market, namely Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Northern Macedonia and Slovenia. Popović is not ruling out expansion, however. “With its high capacity and efficiency, the new filler provides ideal conditions for this,” she says.

Hygienic filling conditions
Hygiene and product quality also played a key role in the new investment. The Innofill Can DVD enables the warm filling of beverages at around 20°C. This method becomes more significant in further processing stages as it “practically eliminates” the formation of condensation, minimizing the risk of cartons, trays and cans in six-packs becoming soggy, forming mold or being contaminated by microbes.The brewery has a large portfolio including Jelen, Jelen Chill, Jelen Cool, Apatinsko, Staropramen, Bavaria, Nikšićko and Nikšićko Tamno.

The brewery is also convinced by the new CO2 purging process for delivering product quality. “Oxygen pickup impairs the quality of the beverage. To prevent this, in modern production, containers are purged with CO2,” says Culibrk.

KHS says its purging process is so efficient that less oxygen enters the containers than conventional methods – despite lower amounts of carbon dioxide being used. Moreover, the volumetric filling principle also improves the filling accuracy.

Installation during COVID-19
The can filler was installed during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Thanks to our local presence in Serbia and the Balkans, we were able to carry out all work quickly and efficiently,” shares Culibrk.

“Travel restrictions and social distancing presented us with a challenge or two during our day-to-day activities. However, together with the customer, we managed to bring the project to a successful close within the given schedule.”

KHS is set to showcase its Innofill Glass DRS ECO and Innofill Can DVD and C can fillers at BrauBeviale’s Beviale Summit, November 9-10, in Nuremberg, Germany.

Edited by Joshua Poole

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