St Austell is one of the UK’s leading breweries. So when it made the decision to invest majorly in the packaging operation for its Bath Ales business, they turned to a company that could help enable this exciting new chapter in the brewery’s history.

The South Gloucestershire village of Warmley is home to approximately 9,289 people. Located not far from Bath, the village is home to such intriguing sights as a 250 ton ice house from the 19th century, the tallest, oldest and most complete industrial ore-crushing windmill tower in the country, William Champion’s Zinc and Brass Works which was, in the 18th century, probably the largest industrial site in Europe, The “Warmley Giant” and Bath Ales who are part of St. Austell Brewery.

St. Austell Brewery, based in Cornwall, purchased Bath Ales in 2016 and set about building them a £7 million state-of-the-art production site that opened in Warmley in 2018. Bath’s award-winning range of beers includes Gem amber ale, Lansdown IPA, and Wild Hare gluten-free pale ale.

St. Austell Brewery established in 1851 have been instrumental in making “Cornish Beer” famous in its own right and almost an AOC (Appellation d’Origine Controlée). Their beers have very strong following both in Cornwall and around the UK and include such iconic brands as Tribute, “Proper Job”, Korev lager and specials  such as Baobab, Cardinal Syn and Divine Intervention, a Belgian Quad brewed at 13%.

And why Warmley? The latest investment in the Warmley site has seen the installation of a flexible world class canning facility. The project was some time in the planning and Enterprise Tondelli as specialist suppliers of canning and bottling equipment were selected as one of the line suppliers.

The space allocated for the project was compact, so line design was a challenge. Enterprise Tondelli provided a number of line designs which were optimised until revision 12 was selected allowing good materials access, third party equipment, common working areas and an efficient use of space whilst still giving an efficient operation. 

Packaging access

A single common accessway reaches to the secondary packaging area with two packing machines opposite each other with one operator for both machines.  A second operator has a work area off the central accessway for the self-adhesive labeller and filler and lid feeder magazine. A link conveyor allowed the use of an existing robotic palletiser to maximise utilisation of assets. On the project there were four other suppliers contributing to the overall success.

Enterprise Tondelli supplied a high level empty can depalletiser manufactured all in stainless steel from its subsidiary Eurosistemi. The unit can handle both layer sheets as well as recyclable plastic interlayers with a high level magazine. 

A full length high level platform supplied by Enterprise allows full access to both the depalletiser and all empty can conveyors. Open electronic architecture allows Bath Ales to adjust the machine as required. A VPN provides remote access for support reducing total cost of ownership.

Pressure type combiner for empty can conveyors feed into a triple channel gravity can cleaner. Automatic divert gates at the rinser inlet allow feeding of the various can sizes down dedicated lanes reducing change over time to a simple switch. Can inversion is by easy openable “suitcase” type machined plastic can twists rather than conventional bars. 

Conscious of their environmental footprint, ionised air is used for can cleaning saving around 8,000 litres of water per shift. A fully enclosed can drier from Eurosistemi with adjustable drying nozzles remove any water prior to coding and packaging. Empty and full can conveyors from depalletiser to packer were manufactured by Eurosistemi and supplied and managed by Enterprise Tondelli

A sixteen platform self adhesive labeller supplied by Enterprise Tondelli from their manufacturer BRB Globus applies a wraparound self-adhesive label to plain cans. To prevent can crushing during this operation and to give an effective adhesion the cans are pressurised with air on the labelling carousel. Guillotine guards allow easy access to the machine which is also fitted with a vpn connection for remote assistance in real time. 

As a sustainable business the company wanted to ensure that smaller runs of non-printed cans can be labelled with ‘Wood Film’ labels which were developed in conjunction with the large papermills of Scandinavia. Tese oils are extracted as a by-product of the paper making process and converted into a chemical structure which forms the basis of a white and clear Polyolefin Wood Film self-adhesive material. 

Sustainable approach

The label material performs the same as a standard PP self-adhesive material and is highly durable, and can be supplied in clear or white faced material. The BRB labeller is able to handle both these and other types of labels without any difficulties.

The main Euroistemi conveyor control cabinet is located out of the way on the high level platform so a local operator panel was located at low level adjacent to the labeller/filler well for easy access. Again to reduce cost of ownership and provide support in real time a VPN is also fitted to this panel.

Bath and St. Austell have historically tended to the turn key approach which can sometimes lead to equipment compromises. However they have been very pleased with the result this time by selecting some of the best suppliers in the industry who are specialists in their fields. 

Brewing director, Georgina Young said: “Over the years I have worked with many suppliers in this industry and had not worked with Enterprise Tondelli before and found it a positive experience. Their continuing attention to the project throughout the process and unfailing willingness to adjust to our requirements has been refreshing.  

“As the conveyor supplier for the project, Enterprise became key in the management of the project. They dovetailed with hard working and dedicated St. Austell and Bath Ales teams and other contractors on site.”

Craig Wilson, managing director of Enterprise Tondelli, added “It was a great pleasure to work with Bath Ales and the team who were very collaborative. Despite some challenges given by covid, customs, shortage etc the final result is a tribute to Bath Ales and St. Austell and we look forwards to working together on any future projects that may arise. I now know where Warmley is and what it is  really famous for.”

Enterprise Tondelli have been working in the industry since 1977 and supplying equipment in over 40 countries. The Bath Ales project is just one of the latest projects by Enterprise that have ranged in scope from Kombucha bottling, nitro beer canning and turn key beer bottling. Suppling canning lines 1,500 to 72,000 cans per hour , bottling from 600 to 60,000 bph and kegging lines too. This wealth of experience ensures Enterprise add something to all their projects.