1 December 2021

Beer canning: Comac “flies” to Japan for a cutting-edge project

Installing a beer canning line remotely? Comac made it… in Japan! To can its beer, the Japanese craft brewery “Ise Kadoya Brewery” chose Comac, that did not stop even during the lockdown period.

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Despite the difficult lockdown period that forced the whole world to come to a halt in the spring of 2020, Comac managed to install, start and test an entire beer caning line completely remotely inside the Ise Kadoya Brewery in the city of Ise, Japan.

Let’s find out more about this particular remote installation, completed with the fundamental assistance by Mr. Teruya Hori from LAFF International, our field partner for this project:

The Ise Kadoya Craft Brewery

The Ise Kadoya Brewery craft brewery was founded in 1575 as a small kinako mochi shop (rice cakes with roasted soybean flour) very popular among pilgrims visiting the Great Shrines of the city of Ise, Japan.

After beginning soy sauce and miso paste production in 1923, Narihiro Suzuki, son of the twentieth president of the company Soichiro Suzuki, in 1997, became interested in the production of craft beer and convinced his father to start a brewery.

After an initially difficult period that complicated business growth, the company began to reap its first profits in the early 2000s thanks to the creation of the range of “Sinto Beer” souvenir beers, while successively taking full control of sales through the “Ise Kadoya” line of craft beers.

Today the company has achieved important results and has focused on strengthening the craft market in Japan, willing to move from the current 1-2% of craft beer sold throughout the country to 5% or more.

In 2020, Ise Kadoya decided to rely on an all-Italian experience with Comac, purchasing a complete beer canning line.

Comac in Japan

Picture: Narihiro Suzuki, President of Ise Kadoya Brewery

What was chosen as beer canning method

The beer canning line chosen by Ise Kadoya Brewery consists of a top depalletizer, a gravity rinsing machine, a Microbrew 10-2 can monoblock, a level control, a heating tunnel and the conveyor belts.

Microbrew 10-2 can monoblock

The Microbrew 10-2 can monoblock is an isobaric filling machine capable of packaging up to 6,000 cans/hour.Compact and versatile, it is manufactured with a steel frame and covered with AISI 304 stainless steel metal sheet.

The Microbrew 10-2 monoblock allows to obtain many advantages for the production:

  • High performance related to type of monoblock
  • Product quality is guaranteed thanks to the use of the same technical solutions as high-capacity monoblocks
  • Settings are optimal for all filling parameters (flush with inert gas, pressurization, filling, separate gas return during filling, decompression)
  • Specific recipes for different types of products can be adjusted and selected from the HMI
  • All filling parameters remain unchanged; they do not depend on the capacity of the machine, as for standard mechanical fillers

 

heating tunnel

Heating tunnel

The heating tunnel is a machine designed to bring the previously cold packaged product to room temperature to avoid condensation inside secondary packaging (the carton box, for example). Specifically,

  • The temperature of the showers can be adjusted by means of a special operator panel, which allows to check and set all the tunnel control settings according to the filling speed and temperature.
  • All the tanks are equipped with side access doors which allow for cleaningand periodic maintenance

 

heating tunnel

How Comac managed the remote installation

The global lockdown in the spring of 2020 complicated business management due to the total impossibility of leaving one’s home.

Thanks to an advanced remote customer system, Comac was nevertheless able to install, start up and test the entire beer canning line chosen by Ise Kadoya Brewery.

This system, in fact, allows Comac to directly interact with customers’ machines and systems, checking their operating status and implementing any changes and/or software updates.

In addition, Comac provides its customers with pre and post sales technical assistance 24 hours a day, 6 days a week in order to always be available immediately, without time limits and above all without letting the customer run the risk of production downtime due to a breakdown.

Some systems are also equipped with a practical webcam in order to see any problems in real time.

Are you interested in installing a beer canning line? Our Sales Department will be happy to help you!

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