Optimizing performance on brewery systems

Rising inflation has affected not only consumers but also businesses over the past several months. Prices for raw materials and energy keep climbing higher, and production itself is becoming increasingly expensive. This has a direct impact on revenue, as higher costs cannot always be passed entirely to consumers – and ballooning food grocery bills may curtail beer consumption. In times like these, it is all the more important for companies to know their plants’ key performance indicators (KPIs) and to be able to compare them with industry benchmarks. It’s the only way to ensure that production costs are still moving within an optimal range.

Increasing price pressures make efficient production all the more important

But surging energy and raw material prices are not the only reason to take a closer look at your production and process flows. There are many instances when such a review makes a lot of sense, for example, if mechanical or electrical issues become increasingly frequent, if there are changes to work flows or personnel, or if inconsistent quality of raw materials results in lower yields. There are myriad reasons why it is worthwhile to carefully analyze existing equipment, and there will always be places where some fine tuning can result in increased efficiency and performance. And, with their wealth of experience, the Steinecker service team can provide valuable support here.

Regular process checks

Breweries should therefore regularly evaluate their beer production in terms of energy, technology, and engineering. Every process and production step counts, from the brewhouse to the bright-beer tank. When changes are detected early on, measures can likewise be taken in good time. Performance optimization , a product within Steinecker’s Lifecycle Service portfolio, is the ideal solution to help breweries get the most out of their systems and technologies.

Ideal time for performance optimization  of brewing systems

Preventive instead of corrective maintenance

Regular upkeep is a simple first step toward ensuring that lines and systems consistently deliver high performance. That means maintenance work should be preventive rather than corrective. It only makes sense. It’s better to prevent downtimes than to have to remedy them . Scheduled maintenance can be an opportunity to do a detailed checkup that uses not only visual inspection to identify defects but also empirical data that system manufacturers like Steinecker have stored in their databases.

Any recommended overhauls are then performed on identified items, even if there are not yet signs of actual damage. Close, transparent communication among everyone involved is essential, from the preparations all the way through to completion of actions. This tight collaboration, combined with the associated documentation, yields the desired results: significantly improved system uptime.

Optimizing performance in every process step

But mechanical modifications and new components are not the only factors influencing a system’s KPIs. In production, the quality of the raw materials used will also have a significant impact on plant performance and product quality. However, just as weather and growing conditions are always changing, the quality of input materials is also never constant. Fortunately, these factors can be offset through adjustments to variables within the process control system. To this end, Steinecker analyzes performance and quality data through remote diagnostics and uses the results to establish recommendations for action and improvement suggestions. To gain a clearer picture of what is happening within the system, samples are taken from the individual process steps and analyzed. Specific recipe parameters can then be adjusted accordingly. 

Cleaning processes are another point offering great potential for optimization. Reducing consumption of water and cleaning agents and shortening the downtimes associated with cleaning cycles also ultimately result in lower operating costs.