The collaboration designed and built three solutions capable of packing a range of can or bottle sizes and counts at varying speed. The machines offer those breweries looking to scale up the opportunity to deliver multipack carton board retail packs, as well as meet the increasing demand for more environmentally-friendly packaging.
Tony Freemantle, managing director, T Freemantle said: “As craft breweries become more successful, they are looking to scale up. The next step after their own tap rooms is to supply retail and get on to the supermarket shelves. Traditional packaging machines handle significant volumes, which are completely unnecessary for our customers. Packaging machines available to the sector were not suitable as they were designed for large volumes. The brewery market needed something more bespoke for small to medium volumes.”
The specifically developed semi-automatic beverage cartoning machine is suited to can and bottle multi-packs in counts from 4 to 24 and can run comfortably at a rate of up to 14,000 cans or bottles per hour. Options offered include a starter model multi pack that works well for smaller breweries which are manually packed.
The semi-automatic and high-speed fully-automated packaging solutions connect directly to a canning line and have a speed range of handling cans or bottles from 3,000 to 35,000 per hour.
Siemens deployed its total integrated automation solutions from Simatic HMI, range of servo-geared motors, control gear and PLCs to develop the new machines which are optimised to meet specific human machine interface needs, using open and standardised interfaces in hardware and software which allow efficient integration into the lifecycle of the machine’s automation.
Siemens Digital Industries’ Andy Lane, OEM business development manager for the UK said: “We are delighted that our relationship with T Freemantle has grown from technology suppliers to partner in creating innovative solutions and opening new markets. I believe this collaboration is just the first of many for both of our businesses.”
Observes Freemantle: “Our partnership with Siemens has offered a solution to the industry and helped our business penetrate a new global market.”