Heineken Switzerland introduces itself

Heineken Switzerland AG is the number two in the Swiss beer market. All proprietary beer brands for the Swiss market are brewed and bottled exclusively in their own breweries in Lucerne and Chur, including the international Heineken brand. With its national and regional roots, Heineken makes a delightful contribution to Switzerland’s diverse beer landscape. The internationally renowned premium brand Heineken and distinctive specialty beers such as Ittinger Amber and Erdinger complement the regionally well-established beer brands Eichhof, Calanda, Haldengut, and Ziegelhof.

From fillers to wrappers

The facilities at Heineken Switzerland are characterized by a high degree of quality and flexibility. To continue meeting these requirements in the future, various retrofits (modernization of systems and equipment) are planned. The process engineering systems must meet a high level of process reliability required for handling beverages. Therefore, the retrofit projects are complex and demanding. In addition to wrapping systems, packers, unpackers, unloaders, and loaders, fillers are also a focus.

The concept: Standardization

Heineken’s comprehensive standardized automation concept includes the new Siemens S7-1500 PLC with the new system operator panels. This allowed the engineering of individual systems to be implemented using the TIA Portal (Totally Integrated Automation) from the very beginning. The processes of the various systems were implemented using Autexis’s function library blocks.

Customer Benefits

Thanks to the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT), the respective solutions could be tested at our premises in Villmergen. This allows for a very short implementation time at the customer’s site, resulting in minimal system downtime. The use of standard components is a key driver for Heineken and reduces operating costs in the medium term.