Julia LesererThe mineral water bottler VILSA-BRUNNEN will in future produce natural mineral water and spritzers on a wet-aseptic line from Krones. The company’s new high-bay warehouse will be erected by System Logistics.
Aseptics for mineral water and spritzers
The family-run company VILSA ranks among Germany’s leading mineral water bottlers, and as such specifies maximised quality standards for its drinks. In order to meet these in its production operation, VILSA has now invested in a new filling line to handle primarily bottles made of 100 per cent recycled PET (rPET). And they’ve chosen to rely on aseptics technology from Krones. The special feature here: The wet-aseptic line will in future fill the firm’s portfolio of mineral waters and spritzers into bottles made of 100 per cent recycled PET (rPET). “We want to set new standards in our category as far as our natural-product philosophy is concerned. Here at VILSA, we place huge emphasis on top-quality drinks coupled with sustainable and resource-economical packaging solutions,” to quote Henning Rodekohr, chairman of the management team at VILSA-BRUNNEN.
The Krones concept really won us over and is for us just another investment in our brands.
| Project: | Wet-aseptic line for water and carbonated beverages |
| Client: | VILSA-BRUNNEN |
| Location: | Bruchhausen-Vilsen, Germany |
| Commissioning: | Starting in November 2021 |
| Scope: | Turnkey line, rated at 24,000 bottles per hour
Aseptic filling into non-returnable bottles made of 100 per cent rPET:
Packaging:
Process technology: |
Special features:To match its state-of-the-art machine technology, VILSA-BRUNNEN decided to likewise invest in digitalising its production operation. The two SitePilot solutions Planning and Line Diagnostics will in future not only facilitate production planning but also put the new line’s quality-, cost- and performance-related data under the microscope. Furthermore, VILSA-BRUNNEN has asked Krones to likewise equip its existing lines with SitePilot Line Diagnostics.
High-bay warehouse from System Logistics
Sustainability plays a key role in VILSA’s corporate philosophy. While the mineral water bottler has already taken quite a few steps in this regard for its filling operation – examples here include the firm’s decision to use containers made of 100 per cent rPET and to invest in a returnable-glass line from Krones in 2019 – the time had now come to scrutinise its logistics processes.
Previously, a fork-lift-truck fleet attended to the long transports between bottling hall and warehouse. Starting in the autumn of 2022, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) will handle this task, linking up the bottling hall to the new high-bay warehouse from System Logistics(opens external link in a new tab), which will then offer space for 46,500 pallets. “Thanks to investing in our logistics, we will in future need only about half the number of lift-truck rides. That corresponds to 458 tons of CO2 saved in a year and fits in neatly with VILSA-BRUNNEN’s sustainability strategy,” explains Henning Rodekohr.