Line upgrade for Jägermeister’s small-bottle range

No matter where you are in the world, when you see a bottle of Jägermeister, you can be sure of this: it was produced and bottled in Germany, the original home of the world-famous herbal liqueur. And now, the spirits producer has updated its production facilities in Wolfenbüttel-Linden – with the help of Krones technology. The distinctive bottle in particular but also its 20-milliliter “mini” version called for a customized approach.

The name Jägermeister is known the world over. The namesake company, Mast-Jägermeister SE, has established a strong international reputation with its herbal liqueur and equally recognizable brand. On the one hand, it’s got the iconic logo featuring a stag with a radiant cross between its antlers. And on the other, the distinctive green bottle, whose flattened rectangular silhouette is unmistakably Jägermeister. It’s a look that Jägermeister uses consistently across its entire product line – in all sizes from the large, 1.75-liter and even 3-liter bottles to the standard 0.5 and 0.7 liters right through to the 20-milliliter “mini meister”.

The company has built its filling operations on Krones technology for decades now. Both bottling plants, in Wolfenbüttel-Linden and in Kamenz, are equipped with Krones kit. Among the longest-running machinery is Line 4, which has been in operation since 1993. Although it has continued to provide dependable service, Jägermeister decided in 2023 that it was time for an update. As Bettina Riemenschneider-Schilling, Senior Director Filling Centers at Jägermeister, explains: “We want to keep up with technological advancements, and so it was time for an upgrade.”

The name “Jägermeister” is known around the world. Image credits:
Mast-Jägermeister SE

Bottles ranging from 20 to 100 milliliters

The first talks at Jägermeister about modernizing the line began in 2020. Initially, the thought was to simply replace some of the machines. But it quickly became clear that more needed to be done, because, as Bettina Riemenschneider-Schilling puts it: “Up until then, we had only been filling 40-, 50- and 100-milliliter bottles on that line. In our brainstorming sessions, we quickly realized that we needed this line to handle our smallest bottles as well, which are just 20 milliliters. So, the original plan to replace a few machines grew into something bigger.”

Jägermeister had been filling its 20-milliliter bottles on just a single line – likewise from Krones and of a similar age (1994). According to Riemenschneider-Schilling, it was “still doing a good job. But we didn’t have a backup if that line went down.” So, it made sense to account for this bottle size when updating Line 4 – though it brought some challenges.

Line 4 runs at high speeds by spirits’ standards, handling 40,000 bottles per hour. Image credits:
Mast-Jägermeister SE

Tweaking the filling process

“It was a real tour de force on the part of Krones and the Jägermeister team,” says a smiling Bettina Riemenschneider-Schilling. Some of the company’s ideas required Krones to develop truly one-of-a-kind solutions. For instance at the filler, as Florian Gier of Krones’ sales team recalls: “Normally, when filling spirits, bottles are pressed up to the filling valves and subsequently overfilled a bit. The excess product in the bottle (which we’ll call the “corrective amount” here) is then extracted and fed back into the product bowl. That requires that the entire bowl be kept under vacuum, which causes the alcohol to gradually evaporate. So, you have to keep the product at a higher alcohol content in order to get the desired alcohol content into the bottle in the end.” And that is precisely what Jägermeister wanted to avoid.

And so, Krones designed its Modulfill HVT filler in such a way that the “corrective” amount of liqueur is no longer fed directly back into the product bowl but instead pumped back by way of a separate channel. The advantage of this setup is that the entire product bowl no longer has to be kept under vacuum but instead only the much smaller “corrective” channel does.

Article 41891 — Modifications to the filler make it possible to fill not only the 40-, 50- and 100-milliliter bottles but also the tiny 20-milliliter bottles. Image credits: Mast-Jägermeister SE

Krones also made a small but important change to the filling process itself to enable reliable handling of even the 20-milliliter bottle: Instead of a lift cylinder pressing the bottle up to the valve, the valve is lowered to the bottle and its short tube inserted directly. “This change ensures reliable processing of even the very small bottles with a narrow neck finish. When you’re working with very small bottles, the tiny footprint means there’s a greater risk of the bottle falling over, which would disrupt production. Because this new approach moves the filling valves instead of the bottles, the risk of that happening is reduced tremendously,” explains Florian Gier. The team at Jägermeister was very pleased with this improvement, says Bettina Riemenschneider-Schilling: “Now we can fill all our small bottles on Line 4 using the same filling valves. The process is very stable, even at the high speed of 40,000 bottles per hour.”

Special requirements for labelling

For labelling, too, Jägermeister had very specific requirements, though these had nothing to do with bottle shape or size. Instead, the focus here was on quality and product variety. For instance, in order to ensure optimal label placement, the labels are no longer brushed on in the new Ergomodul labeler. Instead, they are pressed onto the bottles.

Jägermeister also opted to have two additional labeling stations, to be used as needed: one for pressure-sensitive labels and the other, a Taxomat station, for applying tax strips. This flexibility is also essential since Jägermeister makes its products for more than 150 markets – with a correspondingly large variety of labels: there are, in fact, more than 100 different variants to meet different language and country-specific requirements.

Sweep-off depalletizer und conveyors optimized

Not only the 20-milliliters “mini” bottle but also the characteristically rectangular bottle shape posed some challenges – including right at the very start of the line, at the sweep-off depalletizer. “On all of their other lines, Jägermeister uses a 90-degree separator to draw the bottles out of the cluster one row at a time while keeping them facing the right direction. On the new Line 4, we’re using a sweep-off table with the container discharge running parallel for the first time,” says Florian Gier. “The result is that far fewer empty bottles fall over – which means fewer manual interventions and a more stable process without a lot of stop-and-go operation.”

The process involves the conveyors running at different speeds to continuously separate the bottle flow. “This reduces backups and makes the whole process more stable,” says Jägermeister’s Christian Fitschen, who served as project lead for the modernization of Line 4. In the end, the bottles run into the filler in single file, with their short side leading the way. “Krones ran several complex simulations to ensure the reliability of the process and the result is really a fantastic solution,” says Christian Fitschen.

Not only the smallest bottles but also the characteristically rectangular bottle shape posed some challenges. The new Line 4 uses a sweep-off table with the container discharge running parallel for the first time. Image credits:
Mast-Jägermeister SE
In the end, the bottles run into the filler in single file, with their short side leading the way. Image credits:
Mast-Jägermeister SE

Dependable inspection despite the bottle’s angular shape and embossing

The Checkmat inspection system that is integrated in the new line has likewise been specially configured to deal with the unique shape and embossing of Jägermeister bottles. “Krones optimized the new inspector for the shape of our Jägermeister bottles. It reliably detects when bottles don’t meet our standards. For example, any bottle that isn’t filled to the correct level or whose cap or label isn’t sitting properly is tagged and removed from the line. The technology there is definitely a huge step up from what we had before – and that takes a burden off our line team,” says Christian Fitschen.

The new machine has given Jägermeister massive improvements not only with respect to product quality and safety. “With the new Line 4, we can now detect early on when a certain filling valve isn’t performing to our standard and we can intervene quickly to correct it,” he says, highlighting the advantages in ongoing production.

A tough job, done well

Sweep-off depalletizer, conveyors, filler, labeler, inspector – Krones delivered carefully customized solutions for nearly every part of the line, each one adapted to meet Jägermeister’s specific needs. “I think it’s perfectly normal to encounter occasional challenges in the course of a project. The fact that we were able to do this project so well can absolutely be attributed to the excellent, intensive collaboration within the project team. You can tell that both sides put their all into making it a success that will last. Even now, after the line has been installed, Krones is still providing extensive support. It’s been a great shared accomplishment,” says Bettina Riemenschneider-Schilling. The upgrade of Line 4 has automated processes, made things easier for staff, optimized workflows and translated customized solutions into shopfloor reality. “This project is an excellent example of our company philosophy in action. We want to shape the future every day, embody perfection and ensure continuous growth and improvement,” says Bettina Riemenschneider-Schilling. And as she sees it, this new line from Krones did just that.

#Spirits #Glass #Filling #Europe

Julia Leserer

22. January 2025

6:20 min.

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