The Argentinian brewery Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes has been working with KHS for several years now. The brewery relies on beverage cans and has installed technology for filling and packaging cans from KHS.
With its beer of the same name, Quilmes is one of the most popular beverage brands in South America and is unmistakably Argentinian: the packaging design of the well-known classic lager is even designed in the national colours of light blue and white of the country's flag. However, the brewery's roots are German: it was founded by Otto Bemberg, a businessman from Cologne, in the capital Buenos Aires at the end of the 19th century. Today, the company belongs to the beverage giant AB InBev, who works with the South American beverage industry with a market share of just under 60 per cent decisively characterises the company. Both have long-standing business relationships with KHS, in the case of Quilmes for around 50 years.
The brewery's latest investment is also based on this reliable cooperation.
„Quilmes approached us with the request for a new canning line in order to better serve the growing demand in this segment, and in addition to our own production site in Brazil, we have a close-knit service and sales network of experienced specialists on site. We were therefore able to deliver and commission the new machines quickly. Quilmes greatly appreciates this competitive advantage.“
David Servio, Key Account Manager for AB InBev South America from KHS
In addition to the strong regional presence of KHS, the Argentinian bottler was convinced by the Efficiency and flexibility of the machinesThe filling capacity of the Innofill Can DVD is currently 90,000 cans per hour, although there is plenty of room for improvement - up to 135,000 containers per hour are possible with the high-performance filler. The machine's special hygienic design ensures high product quality and safety during filling. In addition, the Volumetric filling principle Precise filling accuracy and fast product changes. „Our can filler can easily process all types of beer from the Quilmes portfolio. The changeover to different formats is just as flexible, with the 350 millilitre size currently being the most popular,“ says Servio, referring to the wishes of domestic consumers. Argentina is by far the most important sales market. The brand is also very popular in Chile, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
„We consider the project a great success for AB InBev, because of all the canning lines we have commissioned in the same period and in different parts of the world, this one had the strongest ramp-up and far exceeded the expected volume. It also fulfils all the requirements of our global technical specifications and our worldwide quality standards.“
Marcelo Petramale, Global Manager for Packaging Engineering and Capex at AB InBev
The new line was supplemented by investments in two packaging systems: The Innopack Kisters SP shrink packer guarantees reliable and high-quality packaging results thanks to its shrink technology. With the Innopack Kisters PSP pad shrink packer, the brewery can pack its Gentle processing of containers in film as well as in pad and film. With the Innopal PB NF one-way palletiser, KHS has installed a high-performance technology for the Palletising of different container types with low container infeed. The dry section was completed by the Innopal AS H depalletiser, which minimises maintenance work thanks to state-of-the-art servo technology and feeds the new containers to the packaging line gently and with virtually no loss.
From commissioning to installation and from the test phase to the commissioning of the new canning line, support was provided by local KHS specialists. One important task was to train the Quilmes operators. „Our employees were trained on all the machines in two phases, both before and after commissioning,“ says Paulo Zeferino, AB InBev Implementation Coordinator for ZBS South America Zone. If further support is required from KHS, the brewery can rely on the full-service provider's remote control system.
Source: KHS
