Craft Brewer Increases First-Pass Yield and Throughput
with New Filling Equipment
New Machine Increases Production Speed by 50 Percent
Using Rockwell Automation Technology
Challenge
Upgrade existing filling equipment
to boost production speed, improve
beer quality
Solutions
Rockwell Automation Integrated
Architecture™ System
• Allen-Bradley CompactLogix
controller delivers high-speed
control in cost-effective form factor,
and provides single programming
environment with Rockwell Software
RSLogix 5000 software
• EtherNet/IP enables connectivity
between controller, servo drives
and motors
• Allen-Bradley PanelView Plus
human-machine interface with
FactoryTalk View Machine Edition
software reduces changeover time
• Allen-Bradley Motion Analyzer
software helped KHS size and select
optimal servo-motor solution
Risk-Assessment Services
• Machine-safety consulting team
conducted safety risk assessment to
identify and mitigate hazards
Results
• Increased production speed from
120 to 180 bottles per minute, with
the ability to run up to 400 bottles
per minute
• Improved quality with 80 to 90
percent error reduction in measuring
parts per million of oxygen
Lakefront needed a filler that would help them manage product quality and enable faster product changeovers.
Background
Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee began brewing craft beers long before
specialty beer became a booming business and cultural phenomenon.
Started in 1987 by two brothers – Jim and Russ Klisch – Lakefront has
continually innovated. It was the nation’s first certified-organic
brewery and promotes that it partners with local farmers for
“Wisconsin-only” ingredients.
The company sold 125 barrels in 1989 and began doubling after that.
As Lakefront’s popularity grew, so did production. The Klisch brothers
went from using 55-gallon, stainless-steel drums in 1987 to building
their own bottling machine in 1990. By 1998, production reached nearly
3,000 barrels in their small bakery-turned-brewery.
The brewery soon moved to larger quarters – the city’s once-shuttered,
coal-power plant – and the owners replaced their hand-me-down and
homemade brewing equipment with a real brew house. Lakefront
grew to producing 33,368 barrels by 2012. The company now
distributes in 35 states and Canada, where its gluten-free beer is
No. 1 in that niche category.
at certain points in the brewing process – like before
fermentation – its absence is just as important during
filling to avoid stale, undesirable tastes.”
Lakefront needed a filler that would help them
manage product quality and also enable faster product
changeovers from 12-ounce to 24-ounce bottles, and
from year-round to seasonal brews.
“Production speed and machine reliability were key
requirements for us,” Klisch said. “We were looking to
streamline our operating efficiency by reducing the
number of shifts in a 10-hour day, and the only way
to do that was to improve machinery uptime and make
product faster.”
In keeping with its indigenous brewing approach and
loyalty to local suppliers whenever possible, Lakefront
selected fellow Wisconsin-headquartered machine builder
KHS USA Inc. to help them upgrade the filling equipment.
Solutions
Leveraging more than 140 years of experience building
fillers for large beverage producers, KHS designed a
machine to provide this midsized business with affordable
automation equipment.
The quality of Lakefront’s beer has improved, partially due to an 80 to 90 percent error reduction
in measuring parts per million of oxygen content during the filling process.
Challenge
For a local craft brewer, it can be a challenge to determine
the appropriate amount of technology investment that
will provide value to the business without requiring
high upfront costs. After discussing the options, the
Klisch brothers decided to upgrade their bottle-filling
equipment in 2013 to keep pace with expanding
consumer demand. The duo began searching for an
affordable, reliable and flexible filler machine that would
also fit the unique production requirements of their
brewing applications.
“We needed filling equipment that would ensure low
oxygen content at the right points in the process, along
with appropriate sterilization, and high-accuracy filling of
plus or minus 1.5 milliliters,” explained company president
Russ Klisch. “While the presence of oxygen is critical
The KHS machine, called the Innofill Micro Glass-Bottle
Filler, fills Lakefront bottles with beer at the required
temperature and pressure using a proven mechanical
valve that achieves the required high-accuracy filling.
KHS worked with engineers at the Rockwell Automation
sales office in Milwaukee to jointly design and develop the
new machine. “With Rockwell Automation on the design
team from the beginning, we were able to create a costeffective, high-performance solution for producing small
beer outputs in a high-throughput, sterile environment,”
said Jeff Gilberg, director of engineering at KHS. “This
also helped us design a solution that would allow KHS to
penetrate a new market globally.”
The team worked together to keep the machine’s eventual
energy consumption as low as possible. KHS virtually
linked models created using SolidWorks design software
from DS SolidWorks with control designs in Rockwell
Software® RSLogix™ 5000 software to model the new
small-output application with Allen-Bradley® Motion
Analyzer software. The Motion Analyzer tool helped KHS
size and select the optimal servo-motor solution based on
torque requirements.
“With Rockwell Automation on the design team from the beginning, we were able
to create a cost-effictive, high-performance solution for producing small beer outputs
in a high-throughput, sterile environment.”
– Jeff Gilberg
The Innofill Micro Glass-Bottle Filler fills bottles with beer,
and then gently discharges them to a filler jetter, where
the beer is agitated with a fine microstream of sanitary
hot water. The hot water produces a fob of foam that
covers the top of each bottle to prevent any oxygen from
settling in. A crowner pushes down on the fob to displace
the foam, resulting in a sterile spot to place the bottle cap.
The filled bottles of beer are conveyed to a case packer
and transported to retail suppliers.
The machine uses an Allen-Bradley CompactLogix™
programmable automation controller that is tightly
synchronized with Allen-Bradley Kinetix® 6500 servo
drives and Allen-Bradley MP Series™ servo motors via
the EtherNet/IP™ network, providing integrated
motion control on one standard industrial network.
This eliminates the need for a dedicated motion
network, reducing cabling and removing the need
to create gateways to get information to or from
secluded networks. It also improves diagnostics and
simplifies maintenance.
Results
A seamless installation prevented any interruptions to
the brewing process, and the new filler meets Lakefront’s
small-footprint requirements. More importantly, the
machine dramatically reduced Lakefront’s productchangeover, maintenance and troubleshooting time
because operators can store and recall recipes using the
Allen-Bradley PanelView™ Plus human-machine interface
and FactoryTalk® View Machine Edition software.
Production speed has increased from 120
to 180 bottles per minute, and the Innofill
Micro Glass-Bottle Filler is capable of
producing up to 400 bottles per minute
in the Lakefront facility.
In addition, using a single programming environment
streamlines engineering efforts.
To improve machine safety, Rockwell Automation
conducted a risk assessment and implemented safety
relays and safe limited speed modules to mitigate operator
safety risks identified during the assessment. The safe
limited speed technology helps increase productivity by
allowing operators to perform maintenance and other
tasks while the machine is in motion, yet operating
safely. The risk-assessment process also helped ensure
compliance with appropriate global safety standards.
“Fast changeovers are crucial when you’re a craft brewery
producing 22 different types of beer throughout the
year, and only 12 of those are brewed year-round,” Klisch
explained. “The new filler allows easy switchover from
year-round to seasonal brews.”
Production speed has increased from 120 to 180 bottles
per minute, and the Innofill Micro Glass-Bottle Filler is
capable of producing up to 400 bottles per minute in the
Lakefront facility.
The Innofill Micro Glass-Bottle Filler fills bottles with beer and then gently discharges them to a filler jetter,
where the beer is agitated with a fine microstream of sanitary hot water.
“Now, we’re experiencing an average of 90 percent
machine uptime compared to 70 percent prior to the
new machine,” Klisch said. “In addition, we only have one
10-hour shift each day instead of two, saving costs and
making our jobs easier.”
Most importantly, the quality of Lakefront’s beer has
improved, which is partially due to an 80 to 90 percent
error reduction in measuring parts per million of oxygen
content during the filling process.
“The new filler machine improves the quality and integrity
of the beer, while also enhancing sanitary conditions for
clean-in-place procedures,” Gilberg said. “It also reduces
process loss of beer to ensure high throughput and
minimize spillage.”
The new machine also has reduced other types of waste.
“Before the new filler machine, we had product quality
and consistency challenges,” Klisch said. “For example,
we’d have six or seven cases of beer with wrong fill
levels or missed crowns. With the new KHS machine and
Rockwell Automation control platform, we’ve lowered our
scrap rate by 80 percent.”
“Ultimately, the team designed an affordable automated
filling machine that is exceeding our expectations,”
A seamless installation prevented any interruptions to the brewing process.
Klisch said. “The technology investment for us as a
small-output craft brewer has definitely paid off with the
impressive improvements we’re seeing.”
The results mentioned above are specific to Lakefront Brewery’s use of Rockwell
Automation products and services in conjunction with other products. Specific results
may vary for other customers.
Allen-BradlAllen-Bradley, CompactLogix, FactoryTalk, Integrated Architecture, Kinetix, MP-Series, PanelView, Rockwell Software and RSLogix are trademarks of Rockwell Automation Inc.
EtherNet/IP is a trademark of ODVA.
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Publication FOOD-AP034A-EN-P – May 2014
Copyright © 2014 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in USA.