After a four-year break, beverage industry trade show BrauBeviale returns to Nuremberg, and packaging equipment provider KHS Group will be presenting its extensive portfolio of “cutting-edge filling technology and resource-conserving packaging systems”.

KHS’s showpiece at the event, to be held from November 28 to 30, will be the modular Innofill Glass DRS ECO filling system – a “veritable success story” with consumption values and product quality that prove convincing.

Moreover, KHS’s Nature MultiPack will also be on show, having set standards as “one of the most sustainable types of secondary packaging currently on the market”.

The KHS portfolio is rounded off by several digital service products, among them intelligent systems for remote diagnosis and maintenance, and a range of additional virtual training courses.

The last successful trade show in Nuremberg in 2019 attracted around 40 000 visitors from 138 different countries. For KHS, as the second-largest exhibitor, this is reason enough to present the global beverage industry with its latest developments.

KHS CEO Kai Acker emphasises: “We’re very excited about finally returning to Nuremberg after such a long break and convincing our international trade visitors of our profitable and sustainable systems and solutions.”

Pioneer in Efficiency, Conserving Resources

Since its launch in 2019, the modular glass filler Innofill Glass DRS ECO has been installed many times over throughout the world. Its success is primarily attributable to its special evacuation and carbon dioxide (CO₂) purging process for glass bottles, notes KHS.

Here, during pre-evacuation, air – and thus oxygen – is first removed from the containers before they are then purged with a precisely dosed amount of CO₂.

Consequently, the machinery lets less oxygen into the beer – and in doing so, consumes up to 60% less CO₂. The less CO₂ used per filled bottle, the more efficient the filling process.

“Low-oxygen filling brings product quality up to a new level and thus ensures perfect enjoyment of the beer,” explains Acker.

At the trade show, KHS will also be focusing on reducing packaging materials – thereby supporting the circular economy.

Following the successful launch of a universal adhesive for beverage cans, KHS is now offering this “pioneering streamlined consumable” for plastic bottles. Still one of the most environment-friendly secondary packaging styles on the market, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers of practically any shape, size or material thickness can now be joined together using just one type of adhesive. This is facilitated by a special process where the adhesive is foamed during application to the containers.

The new system also increases the level of convenience for the consumer, says KHS, noting that the bottles are easier to separate. “Moreover, the outer wall of the PET container is subjected to less stress when the pack is opened, meaning that even with lightweight bottles with a very low wall thickness, overload and damage are [. . .] ruled out.”

Digital Systems

KHS notes that its digital service portfolio is also a feature of this year’s trade show booth. Its remote diagnostic service already supplies a “highly efficient” method of remote maintenance and enables system disruptions to be analysed and remedied. The software updates and modified system parameters can be uploaded to the machinery at any time following consultation with the customer.

KHS provides additional help to make troubleshooting more time- and cost-effective with its augmented reality service. According to the principle of ‘I see what you see’, support engineers gain a clear picture of the situation through the smart glasses worn by the user and line availability is therefore quickly restored.

KHS has also digitalised training. In addition to its tried-and-tested services offered on site or at its various training centres worldwide – now also accessible online – its virtual training centre, the Dortmund engineering company, has now moved closer to providing modern, flexible forms of learning.

At the virtual centre, customers can independently master the correct operation and regular maintenance of their machines through educational units that are both instructive and entertaining, all of which are accessible 24/7.

Grouped under the KHS campus brand, the courses form a full blended learning package of extensive vocational and further training and human resource development measures.

“With the range of digital systems and solutions constantly growing, we’re specifically expanding our service so that customers can make the best use of our futureproof technologies in day-to-day production and operate them reliably and efficiently,” concludes Acker.

The KHS Group will be presenting its systems and solutions at Booth 8-418 in Hall 8 at BrauBeviale.