KHS Presents Innokeg Till CombiKeg Live for the First Time
New, compact keg washing and racking machine for small and medium-sized businesses is excellently received by the industry
With its Innokeg Till CombiKeg internationally active manufacturer of filling and packaging equipment for the beverage, food, and non-food industries KHS GmbH has developed a keg washing and racking machine that provides small and medium-sized businesses in the brewing, soft drinks, mineral water, fruit juice, and wine sectors in particular with a comprehensive range of benefits. In order to communicate these advantages to a live audience, KHS invited representatives of the industry to view the prototype of the Innokeg Till CombiKeg at its plant in Kriftel, the KHS Group's competence center for keg technology. Many companies accepted the invitation, among them German breweries Eichbaum Brauerei, Einbecker Brauhaus, Licher Privatbrauerei, Pfungstädter Privatbrauerei, and Paderborner Brauerei. Companies from outside Germany who participated in the event included private brewery Zwettl from Austria and Czech brewery Strakonice. German brewery Schönbuch was also present, who demonstrated great foresight in reserving the Innokeg Till CombiKeg prototype for its establishment some time ago. Werner Dinkelaker, owner of Brauerei Schönbuch, says, "We are already looking forward to this prototype and are proud to be the first company to profit from the Innokeg Till CombiKeg." The event began with a presentation which focused on the extensive activities of the world market leader in keg system technology. This was followed by an explanation of the theory behind the many plus points of the new development, followed by a practical demonstration on the Innokeg Till CombiKeg itself. The participants were quite taken by the extremely compact design of the keg washing and racking machine that operates on the principle of rotary processing and is able to output 60 to 90 kegs an hour. They were also impressed by the fact that despite its compact size the Innokeg Till CombiKeg not only washes kegs inside and out, but also racks them, and also has integrated in its cladding all media tanks, controls, and conveyors. The overall dimensions of the Innokeg Till CombiKeg are such that the entire machine fits in a container. It can be fully commissioned in Plug & Produce mode. Another exceptionally beneficial feature of the Innokeg Till CombiKeg is that the system is modular, enabling a great number of possible configuration options. Whether the customer requires three washing heads and one racking head or five washing heads and one racking head, classic return gas control or DFC racking: anything is possible. A wide range of additional equipment can also be added downstream of the keg washing and racking process, such as keg scales, a keg turner, keg capper, camera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. After inspecting the machine guests were taken on a tour of the KHS Keg Technology Competence Center, giving them the opportunity to gain an insight into state-of-the-art production processes and glean information on KHS' extensive portfolio of keg systems. The event ended on a sociable note, with visitors tucking in to various specialties from Hesse. The unanimous verdict of the participants was that the day had been well worth it. What's more, "The Innokeg CombiKeg is just the kind of innovation the market wants, one that combines compact design with the utmost flexibility, ease of operation, and hygiene." Rainer Deutschmann, Global Product Account Kegging, KHS GmbH, said of the successful event in Kriftel, "We are tremendously pleased that our new development has met with such positive feedback within the industry. We thus expect great things of the Innokeg Till CombiKeg. We are also delighted that some of the visitors to the event would have liked to have taken the prototype back with them; we even received our first orders for it. We weren't expecting such a spontaneous response. We consider this to be an especially great compliment."
