Nestled in the low hills of rural Wisconsin, a charming, Swiss chalet of a brewhouse operates with an almost religious devotion to perfecting the art of craft beer. The New Glarus Brewing Co. stands within the top twenty craft brewers in the US, a feat that is becoming more and more of an accomplishment as thousands of new brewers flood the craft scene.
The New Glarus brewery bears its role model status well. Despite distributing only within Wisconsin, the brewery has developed a cult-like following, inspiring devotees to make regular pilgrimages across state lines to pick up their favorite seasonal beer. A dedication to providing the best craft beer experience possible permeates the brewery’s staff, from the gift shop to the packaging floor. These men and women take their jobs seriously.
It was this pursuit of perfection that brought New Glarus Brewery to FILTEC.
Glass is not perfect. Staff at New Glarus was seeking a way to deal with sporadic defects found in their new glass bottles. Hand sorting these bottles in-house or through third party vendors cost the brewery production time, as did periodic glass explosions within their filler. FILTEC’s OMNIvision 3, a state of the art Empty Bottle Inspection System capable of identifying and rejecting highly variable glass defects, was the answer to this problem.
“We make world class beer, and we want our customers to have the best experience they can possibly have.”
“We make world class beer, and we want our customers to have the best experience they can possibly have,” said Drew Cochrane, COO and General Counsel to New Glarus Brewing Co. “[The OMNIvision 3] is just another tool we have to make sure we get the best beer to the customer, making sure that package is as sound as it could possibly be so that we know that beer is protected until it gets into the customers’ hands.”
The OMNIvision 3 stands at the front of the New Glarus packaging line, inspecting new bottles before they reach the filler.
The OMNIvision 3 was installed at the New Glarus brewery in early 2016, and since installation the brewery has seen productivity increase by two percent, thanks to reduced filler issues and the protective barrier of quality control provided by the inspection unit.
“FILTEC has been excellent.”
“FILTEC has been excellent,” said Cochrane in conclusion. “We’ve been really happy with our relationship so far.”
The OMNIvision 3 inspects every surface of the glass bottles, looking for chips, air bubbles, mold imperfections, and other defects.
A rejected bottle is dismissed directly from the OMNIvision 3’s starwheel, no external rejector required.