Trendy craft beers, lifestyle beverages such as hard seltzer, plus wine, sparkling wine, still water, and soft drinks – the range of beverages the Innofill Can C can filler from KHS can process is vast. Its flexibility is just one of many reasons why the machine has become a real success story, however. Since its launch a few years ago, over 100 have been sold to date worldwide. Customers like British craft brewer Tiny Rebel are convinced by its high level of efficiency, reliability, and optimum hygiene systems. Thanks to a new addition to the series that boosts capacity to up to 60,000 cans an hour, the filler can now also be integrated into lines with higher outputs even more effectively.
One of the features Tiny Rebel appreciates is the machine’s compact design with its excellent hygiene performance – including electropneumatically powered bells with PTFE expansion joints to seal the cans.
Photo KHS
The Innofill Can C has more than proven itself on the market, this is evidenced by satisfied customers across the globe – in the USA, Brazil, Japan, Thailand, Australia and Iceland, Afghanistan, and Liberia in West Africa, among other places. With British craft brewer Tiny Rebel from Newport in South Wales, the system’s supplier most recently had another customer from Great Britain convinced. “KHS has always been synonymous with maximum quality in can filling. The efficiency and functionality of their products are outstanding, we couldn’t imagine any other company as our partner,” is how Mark Gammons explains the decision to buy from KHS. “The difference to the competitor filler previously in use here is enormous,” the head of operations at Tiny Rebel continues.
Boost in output a milestone for Tiny Rebel
Compared to the old machine, efficiency in the filling process has now improved by up to 40%, with the production capacity also much higher. One key benefit is that “the Innofill Can C fills the same amount of beverage in an hour our old filler needed an entire day for,” to quote Mark Gammons. He and his team now produce up to 15,000 330-milliliter cans an hour.
Tiny Rebel uses a can seamer from Ferrum, one of KHS’ partner companies. The greatest importance is also attached to the hygienic design of all components here. The seamer section is made entirely of stainless steel and provides maximum durability even when aggressive cleaning media are used.
Photo KHS
For beverage producers with a higher output, KHS recently upped the performance of the Innofill Can C, with the efficient can filler managing up to 60,000 containers every 60 minutes. Thanks to this new addition to the series, the machine can now be integrated into lines with higher capacities even more effectively and supplemented by an Innopro Paramix C blending system or a KHS flash pasteurizer, for example. Furthermore, the hot filling option increases flexibility when it comes to producing juices, iced teas, and other beverages.
Oxygen pickup is reduced by up to 90%
Above all, Tiny Rebel appreciates its new KHS filler for its precise filling and high product quality. “Oxygen control is the key to good beer. The special CO2 purging process on the Innofill Can C can cut oxygen pickup by up to 90%. We attach great value to appropriate product quality, especially with our ales. With KHS, we can perfectly meet this requirement,” Mark Gammons smiles.
The compact design with its excellent hygiene performance enables smaller batches of different beer styles and container sizes to be produced – without compromising on quality. “Customers like our filling vales for their hygienic properties, compact design, and simple handling and maintenance,” confirms Andy Carter, managing director of KHS UK. For fillers such as Tiny Rebel in particular, with a large range of products that requires maximum flexibility of the technical equipment during filling, this is a major advantage. Contamination and flavor carryover are thus prevented on the frequent product changeovers.
Gammons is not just impressed by the technology, however, but also by the company’s intensive local support. “They help the KHS team gave us with this project was magnificent. From ordering through planning to the commission, everything went really smoothly,” he emphasizes. In Carter’s opinion, KHS’ ability to give its customers the world over the best possible support and rapid assistance where necessary through its local service teams definitely pays off.
KHS successfully supports a growth strategy
According to Gammons, this isn’t often necessary. “The KHS filler is extremely robust and reliable. On our old machine, we had to replace major parts every three months.” This new stability in production has helped Tiny Rebel successfully implement its strategy of growth.
