Inspection systems Checkmat for fillers and cappers

Niehoffs-Vaihinger Fruchtsaft GmbH remains unperturbed by the ongoing plastics debate: the company fills more than 80 per cent of its production volume in returnable glass bottles – this is a matter of principle, as Plant Manager Dr. Rainer Kressmann emphasises: “Deep down in our hearts, we’re a returnables company.” His colleague, Marketing Manager Sven Frisch, even goes one step further, by vigorously affirming: “We want nothing to do with plastic!”

The MosMedynagroprom plant in Medyn near Kaluga, Russia, was built ten years ago to supply schools in Moscow with UHT milk and cheese, but it never reached capacity. EkoNiva took over the plant in 2017 and has been updating its technology and hygiene to the latest state of the art. “The plant originally produced up to 90 percent of its output volume as UHT milk products. Now we are switching production over to a traditional range of pasteurized products: milk, fermented dairy products, cottage cheese, yoghurt smoothies,” explains Vadim Shevelev, project manager for EkoNiva.

The Kulmbacher Brewery has a new line for swing-stopper bottles, which is rated at 50,000 containers an hour and thus sets the world speed record for this type of bottle. The line was installed in five erection stages and without interrupting production – a rather special kind of challenge.

The Polish mineral water bottler Muszynianka installed no fewer than two Krones bottling lines within twelve months, thus laying the foundations for further growth.