Foodmach, Australian packaging automation supplier to the beverage and food sectors, has teamed up with Lion to bring a ‘new to world’ filler to the Australian market.
The filler is new technology released by Vipoll at Drinktec in Munich late last year and is the first in the world to be able to run glass bottles, aluminium beverage cans and PET bottles through the one machine.
Foodmach is supplying the Vipoll Visitron, which will be installed as part of a major line upgrade at one of Lion’s iconic craft breweries.
The filler is a monoblock rinser/filler/capper/seamer and delivers Lion the flexibility to run both bottles and cans in less than half the footprint separate fillers would have required. The use of universal grippers allows for fast changeovers from cans to bottles (less than 30 minutes), and between bottle sizes as required.
The filler will be one of the first of its type installed globally and will be in operation by the end of the year.
Lion’s Capital Projects director, Paul Woods, said: “Lion has a company-wide focus on delivering our customers a wide variety of choice, and nowhere is this more evident than our craft beer range. Much of this range is produced in small, bespoke breweries, which are both historic and space-constrained.
"We had been looking for a solution to give customers a choice of our small-batch brews in both bottles and cans.
"Foodmach’s introduction to Vipoll was perfectly timed, and provided a solution that exactly matched our needs. Foodmach have then worked with us to deliver an incredibly compact and flexible full packaging line. We’ve had many years of successful projects, both large and small with Foodmach, and it’s great to see an Australian company understanding our needs and actively looking for solutions.”
Earle Roberts, Foodmach’s CCO: “I have watched with keen interested Vipoll’s developments over the last 7 years. They have excellent references in major beverage companies, but bringing a new supplier into the Australian market is always difficult.
"When we learned of the pending release of the Combifiller during Interpack in Dusseldorf, I knew it would be game-changing technology. We made high-level introductions between Lion and Vipoll at that show. A larger delegation from Lion then visited Drinktec in October and were able to see a Combifiller on display. We’ve worked with Lion and Vipoll since then to develop an integrated line solution and all three companies are genuinely excited about bringing cutting edge tech to the Australia market.”
