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11/08/2016

First KHS/Schubert packaging block for Brauerei Schützengarten

KHS GmbH has now supplied a compact, multifunctional packaging block together with packaging manufacturer Gerhard Schubert GmbH for the first time.

• Swiss brewery invests in space-saving packaging system for wrap-around cartons and plastic crates
• KHS offers a tailored system together with Schubert
• Schützengarten profits from higher capacities and greater flexibility

Dortmund/Crailsheim/St. Gallen, November 8, 2016 – KHS GmbH has now supplied a compact, multifunctional packaging block together with packaging manufacturer Gerhard Schubert GmbH for the first time. This will help Swiss brewery Schützengarten to meet the growing demand for its range of beers. The new system is chiefly distinguished by its great flexibility regarding different forms of packaging. Brauerei Schützengarten is growing and with it the demands it makes of its packaging system. In the course of a recent and necessary reinvestment process the brewery opted for a new, innovative system concept by KHS and Schubert. Its entire packaging and palletizing section is also being modernized. This includes combined palletizing and depalletizing with automatic changeovers between returnable and non-returnable packaging and a new, fully automatic glass bulk depalletizer, among other features. At the same time the line is also to receive a fully automated crate magazine to buffer plastic crates. This additional automated process step increases line availability as surplus crates no longer have to be removed by hand during format changeovers.

Higher capacity in minimum space

Thanks to the appropriate packaging block supplied by KHS and Schubert Schützengarten can now exploit the full capacity of its filler within the limited space it has available. Compared to the packaging system previously used the line capacity has thus been practically doubled. In order to achieve this the companies have blocked the KHS Innopack PPZ with a Schubert erecting and a Schubert closing module. Both business have thus combined their many years of experience with proven machine technology to create one innovative system. “The joint package from KHS and Schubert had us convinced. The packaging block opens up many new opportunities for us. We’re now best equipped for the future and have established partners on board,” says Dr. Martin Ketterer, technical director and member of the management board at Schützengarten. The brewery profits from numerous benefits with the new investment. For example, in the future its wrap-around cartons and plastic crates will be processed on one single machine block, with the space-saving system only requiring one operator. The block has also been designed so that no additional pack conveyors are needed. As a result the effort required for maintenance has also been reduced, as has energy consumption. Thanks to its modular design the packaging block is extremely flexible regarding the range of products which can be processed. Retrofit expansions for additional types of packaging, such as cluster packs or baskets, can also be realized with little effort. It is even possible to convert the format on the Schubert modules for cartons while simultaneously producing plastic crates on the KHS packer. During format changeover Schützengarten does not need to make any manual fine adjustments to the system thanks to the precision engineering and resulting high level of reproducibility, thus considerably cutting down on conversion times.

Challenge successfully mastered during planning

As the new packaging block had to be installed on the first floor with a low ceiling, which was the designated space available on site, KHS made a virtual model of the production shop with the exact measurements using 3D scanning. The schedule from the start of work to commissioning was extremely tight so that the brewery could recommence production within a very short time indeed and thus remain able to supply. As a result, the process from the dismantling of the old system to the end of commissioning of the new took just three weeks. In doing so Schubert and KHS met customer requirements to the latter’s utmost satisfaction in two-shift operation. “We're extremely happy with our investment. With us KHS and Schubert have acted as a single unit and the new block has been running right from the start with no difficulties whatsoever,” says Ketterer.

About Brauerei Schützengarten

Brauerei Schützengarten AG was founded in St. Gallen in 1779 and is thus the oldest and at the same one of the most modern and innovative breweries in Switzerland. Since its founding the brewery has been independent and currently employs about 220 people. Most of the approximately 175,000 hectoliters of different beer styles produced each year is destined for the hospitality trade. The high quality of Schützengarten products is confirmed by the gold medals awarded to the company on a regular basis at the quality competition run by the German Agricultural Society (DLG).

About Gerhard Schubert GmbH

With great resolve and foresight Schubert Verpackungsmaschinen is geared towards the current and future requirements of its customers. The company is boldly exploring completely independent technological avenues with its philosophy of modular and intelligent TLM packaging systems. Its objective is to provide customers with future-proof systems that are easy to use, extremely powerful, flexible in their format conversion and stable in their functionality. At regular intervals the company presents major innovations which offer customer benefits in new dimensions, thus conquering new market segments with new technologies. Founded about 50 years ago, the family-owned group is currently in its second generation and employs 1,050 people. Thanks to an atmosphere of mutual trust and a high degree of individual responsibility the company has succeeded in developing its very own culture of innovation. The Schubert Group consists of German and international subsidiaries from the fields of IT, engineering, precision parts and packaging services.

About the KHS Group

The KHS Group is one of the leading manufacturers of filling and packaging systems for the beverage, food and non-food industries. The KHS Group includes the following companies, among others: KHS GmbH, KHS Corpoplast GmbH, KHS Plasmax GmbH and NMP Systems GmbH. KHS GmbH manufactures modern filling and packaging systems at its headquarters in Dortmund, Germany, and in Kleve, Bad Kreuznach and Worms. The KHS Group's PET expertise is pooled at KHS Corpoplast and KHS Plasmax in Hamburg, Germany, where light PET packaging and innovative coating systems are developed and produced. NMP Systems GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of KHS GmbH based in Düsseldorf in Germany, designs and markets new, resource-saving packaging systems for PET bottles. The Group has an international production and service network. In 2015 KHS was awarded the Top 100 seal of approval for exceptional innovative power and outstanding innovative success among German SMEs. In 2015 the KHS Group and its 4,871 employees achieved a turnover of around €1.17 billion within the Salzgitter consolidation. The companies in the KHS Group are 100% subsidiaries of the MDAX-listed Salzgitter AG corporation.