The craft beer industry has been growing by leaps and bounds, fueled by rising demand for small local beer brands. While decades of mergers and consolidation led to complete domination of the beer market by MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch by the beginning of the 21st century, craft breweries have increased their employment by 700% since then.
Craft beers now have 11% of the market share, and their competition is challenging the big companies.
But beer makes some special demands on manufacturing and packaging. For one thing, it requires precision. Even very small changes in pressure and temperature can lead to foam — and that means spillage.
Packers focusing on high volume and low cost may not be well adapted to the craft beer market. Brands focus on local connections to reach consumers, and consumers expect and respond well to very specialized packaging. A craft brewery might make small runs of seasonal bears with labels created by local artists. Even as they grow, craft beer makers have special needs.
Sugar Creek brewery was spending $30,000 a month on spillage when they decided that they had no choice but to invest in better technology. They came to Rexroth.
What Rexroth offered Sugar Creek
Sugar Creek needed greater clarity. They needed their team to be able to monitor the entire process of brewing and bottling, so they could see and respond to problems quickly and accurately. Here’s what Rexroth provided:
- IndraControl XM Controller
- IoT Gateway
- Connected Engineering Consulting/Service
- IndraControl S67 IO Modules
Sensors in the beer barrels now monitor temperature and fill levels. Sugar Creek can also monitor pH, gravity, pressure, carbonation, and fill times using the IoT Gateway and mobile devices. This lets Sugar Creek improve their product. It has also saved them $120,000.They’ve been able to invest the money that was going to spillage and take advantage of the opportunity consumer demand offers right now.
When you need support or service for your Rexroth drive and control systems, no matter what industry you’re in, call us or use our simple contact form. We’ll get you up and running again fast.