Budweiser Budvar switches to Krones for bottles and cans

Installing a new can filling line was a top priority for the brewery’s decision-makers because cans are especially practical for export. Some countries, like South Korea, only import Budweiser in cans. But increasing at-home consumption of beer spurred by Covid-19 restrictions in the last two years has also been a boon to this packaging type, catapulting the brewery’s sales of beer in cans to nearly 500,000 hectoliters in 2021. For the sake of comparison, when the existing, smaller canning line was installed in 2012, the company was aiming for an annual output of 70,000 hectoliters.

Tetris – Krones style

The new canning line was installed in what was previously a warehouse for bottled beer. The process was not exactly easy since the space is divided up by pillars on a six-by-six-meter grid across the entire room. It was a challenge for Krones’ layout team, whose job it was to configure the line around the pillars, in a very tight space.

• As an example, the pasteurizer had to be delivered and installed in five segments – and just fits, to the centimeter, between the pillars. 
• To fully utilize the space’s height for stacking pallets of empty cans, the brewery opted for a sweep-off depalletizer with a high-level discharge, which unloads the empty cans onto a raised platform that was specially constructed for the purpose. 
• In addition, the line had to be connected to an existing pallet, conveyor, and warehousing system with 19,500 pallet slots. 

“During the installation and commissioning, we also faced a number of unusual difficulties such as the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine,” explains Dalibor Čáp, capex manager for Budweiser Budvar. “In spite of all that, all of the vendors on the project succeeded in meeting our deadline for starting filling, March 1, 2022, right down to the day. For that, we would like to extend a big ‘thank you’ to everyone involved.”

Everyone on the project succeeded in meeting our deadline for starting filling, right down to the day. Dalibor ČápCapex manager for Budweiser Budvar