Craft beer is making huge waves in the beverage industry. Craft breweries showed tremendous growth in market share, volume and jobs created over the course of 2017—and this trend is poised to continue throughout the rest of 2018, too. Craft beers mark a welcome departure from a long-homogenized market, empowering consumers to enjoy more flavors and styles than ever before. But to create impact in such a fiercely competitive industry, U.S. craft brewers need quality secondary packaging that’s versatile and cost efficient. And that’s where we come in.
At Douglas Machine, we lead the way in secondary packaging solutions. Our team produces a range of machines for today’s Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) manufacturers—including case and tray packers, shrink wrap systems and cartoners. We’re particularly passionate about working with breweries, so you can imagine how thrilled we were when Summit Brewing Co. chose one of our cartoners for their canned craft beers. Today, we’ll be walking you through how our Vantra IM cartoner machine helps Summit Brewing Co. maximize efficiency and create better drinking experiences for customers.
The Rise of Summit’s Canned Craft Beer
For over three decades, Summit Brewing Co. has been making unique craft beers that perfectly balance hops, malts, yeast and water. From earthy pale ales and chocolatey porters to tropical IPAs, Summit offers a huge selection of brews for true beer lovers. To meet rising demands for their canned craft beer, Summit turned to Douglas Machine to add a new high-performance cartoner to their brewery. Enter the Vantra™ IM—our compact, economical motion cartoner packaging machine for cartons and trays.
The Vantra™ IM cartoner is the perfect packaging solution for canned beverages. Designed with flexibility and efficiency in mind, the Vantra IM can set up, load and close trays or cartons at speeds of up to 55 units per minute within a single platform. This versatile cartoner machine can also be integrated with a breadth of infeed options to handle bottles, cans, cartons, bags and more—including applications demanding several manipulations.
The Vantra IM features a hygienic sheet metal frame and standoff bearing mounts to match specific wash down requirements—and an ergonomic, walk-in design to maximize operator safety and accessibility. Best of all, the machine can accommodate a variety of pack patterns and size ranges for food, beverage, personal care or pharmaceutical products. From standard trays and cans to RSC-flap style cartons, the Vantra IM cartoner brings the power and flexibility to suit nearly any CPG brand.
Other advantages of the Vantra IM include the following:- Various infeed styles for application and product handling flexibility
- Glue seal for FOL, POL and RSC-flap cartons
- Tuck closure for standard or reverse-style cartons
- Carton and tray capability on a single platform
The Vantra™ IM Drives Results for Summit Brewing Co.
The versatility of the Vantra IM makes it a natural solution for Summit Brewing Co. Its fast, repeatable changeover feature includes a range of enhancements that collectively reduce changeover time to less than five minutes. The IM’s rail positions are recipe-driven and locked in place to within +/- 1/32, ensuring repeatability and consistency. Best of all, the machine’s robust infeed rails can easily withstand high product pressure, and its ergonomics minimize manual adjustments—fostering greater efficiency and safety.
Summit chose the Vantra IM specifically because of its expandable size range. This innovative cartoner packaging machine expands the brewery’s offerings to include 12, 24 and 30 pack carton capability—at speeds of up to 50 cartons per minute. The IM’s mass flow infeed and laning make packaging large quantities of Summit cans effortless. Its surge release and high-speed loading capabilities foster greater workflow efficiency, too. Thanks in part to their new Vantra IM cartoner, Summit is connecting even more beer lovers with canned brews that enrich and inspire. But don’t just take our word for it…
“I’ve bought and installed every piece of machinery in this brewery, and this was by far the best startup I’ve ever been through,” says Tom Thomasser, Chief Operations Officer of Summit Brewing Co. “Our efficiencies exceeded expectations from day one. I would definitely buy another Douglas machine.”
Check here to see the Vantra IM in action at Summit’s brewery.
Make Secondary Packaging Simple With Douglas Machine
If you’d like to join in on the Summit experience, then check out their beer finder tool to find a brew near you. (We hear their Oktoberfest is particularly tasty this time of year.) Also, be sure to connect with us for more information on Douglas Machine and our wide range of secondary packaging solutions. You can also reach out for more insights into finding the right cartoner machine manufacturer for your needs. We’d be happy to provide all the support you need to find the perfect machine for your customers and business goals. Until then, fellow beer lovers.