Production data acquisition in beverage filling operations

Production data acquisition is an important building block in beverage production plants. In the new PET line of the mineral water bottlers Aqua Römer GmbH & Co. KG., Göppingen, Germany, the LDS line documentation system and the SIPS software modules are used for monitoring and documenting the production operations.

Production data acquisition for beverage lines – the advantages:

• All production data available are acquired and displayed
• The causes of malfunctions at the reference machine are identified, enabling appropriate instructions to be provided for upgrading the line’s efficiency
• Automatic detection and display of production losses and inefficiencies
• Automated detection of rejects and the concomitant quality data

In addition, Göppinger Mineralbrunnen also uses the SIPS care and maintenance software, with a maintenance agreement. SIPS enables servicing and maintenance work to be rendered automatable. In this system for the maintenance staff, all the activities involved at each machine are displayed in an easy-to-read bar chart, and performance of maintenance orders is organised, for example.

Elements of the new EHF line (Enhanced Hygienic Filling) include a blow-moulder/rinser/filler monobloc, enclosed in a Class-10,000 cleanroom. Downstream, the bottles are passed to a Contiroll labeller, a Variopac Pro packer for non-returnable PET or a Blitzpac Junior packer for the returnable bottles. A single-column Pressant palletiser assembles the pallet stacks. In terms of process technology, a Contiflow mixer handles product mixing of the components involved, installed together with an AquaAsept sterile water treatment system, a VarioFlash product flash pasteuriser, and a VarioClean CIP system, plus a VarioDos hygiene centre.
Thanks to complete-coverage production data acquisition in this line, from the process technology all the way through to packaging, the production process for the beverages can be traced in its entirety.