Modular bottling line expansion at Cameron’s Brewery.

It was just 5 years ago that Camerons Brewery invested in a new Enterprise Tondelli glass bottling line; this was designed to be modular to allow them to meet on-going future requirements. The latest phase allows an increase in line efficiency, repurposing of some operators and addition of new product sku’s and processes.

Due to increased volumes, maximising the line efficiency was key and has been increased by some 15%. This was achieved through a number of initiatives including the addition of a new fully automatic Fipal bulk glass depalletiser and Fipal pack palletiser from Enterprise. The palletiser has an open electronic architecture to allow the customer to add new formats by themselves, making the machine very flexible and quick to respond to new customer formats. Non contact pack turning stops pack damage due to light weighting of glass. Rather than roller, a mattress conveyor controlled by servo motor means that row formation is much more flexible. A basket type opening head also ensures a tight pallet.  An online stretch wrapper reduces pallet movement and handling.

The original installation included a Baumer packer capable of producing both wraparound cartons and also tray packs. Baumer make overwrap shrink wrappers up to 200 cycles per minute and are at the forefront of secondary packaging/shrink wrap technology. Adding a new Baumer overwrap shrink-wrap module reduced down time on the shrink wrapper and has been a simple upgrade. The new shrink tunnel has handwheel adjustment of the tunnel side walls for the different pack widths to improve shrink.

The most striking addition is the installation of a new tunnel pasteuriser from Enterprise so that Camerons can both sterile filter or tunnel pasteurise. This can be used for adult soft drinks, beer and fruit based products. The six zone tunnel pasteuriser supplied by Enterprise from Bigtem has insulation on the two hot zones of the machine on both the side and also the top covers reducing energy usage. The thermal design of the machine means much smaller water reservoirs coupled with plate type heat exchangers give quicker heat up and better PU control. Another benefit is reduced water consumption as all of the water is collected and reused with the machine rather than overflowing to drain. Quick release spray nozzles with easily removable end caps from the spray headers makes it much easier to clean and keep free from glass fragments. Double filters are fitted on the pump suction side for easy cleaning during production. The control panel allows easy addition of new pasteurisation cycles by Camerons and the handy addition of a dynamic PU projection calculator on the 10” Siemens touch screen makes it a very user friendly unit.

Originally the line had a BRB Globus self adhesive rotary labeller. However space was allowed for a future wet glue labeller and this has now been added also from BRB Globus of Mantua, Italy. This can handle 150 ml up to 750 ml glass bottles with body, back and neck labels thus covering the full range label dress that could be required.

A ROPP free standing screw capper was installed to compliment the crown cork offering along with an additional cap hopper and feeder for quick change over.

The conveyors, control panel and field wiring were supplied from Eurosistemi who are a specialist conveyor systems manufacturer owned by Enterprise Tondelli.  The conveyor layout was designed with on-line accumulation for maximum throughput and reduced machine stoppage due to build back.

Mr Chris Deakin, Brewing Operations Director said “The modular aspect of the line and the long term future proofing of the original design has been very helpful in developing our contract filling business. The addition of a tunnel pasteuriser means we have been able to secure some long term contracts and has opened up many opportunities. We have been impressed by the increase in line efficiency with the new equipment from Enterprise which really helps with overall line utilisation. Although quite a complicated project carried out during covid restrictions it was handled fantastically by our own Cameron’s people and also by Enterprise Tondelli too.”

Further details of the wide range of contract brewing, bottling, canning, kegging and packaging service that Camerons can offer is found on their website:- https://cameronsbrewery.com/contract-brewing/

Craig Wilson Managing Director of Enterprise Tondelli UK office said “we have enjoyed working with Camerons Brewery again and it is great to see how our original modular design has met their changing needs.”

Enterprise Tondelli have been working in the industry since 1977 and supplying equipment in over 40 countries. The Cameron’s project is the latest project by Enterprise that have ranged in scope from 1,200 bottles per hour spirit line for Scotland, 25,000 bottles per hour complete PET line in Africa , canning at 1,500 to 72,000 cans per hour and turnkey soft drinks factories in Russia. This wealth of experience ensures Enterprise add something to all their projects. Other case studies and full range of equipment can be found on : www.enterprisetondelli.co.uk

“from single machines to complete turn key factories”