GENTLE PRODUCT HANDLING IN A COMPACT FOOTPRINT

摘要

In 1989, John McDonald started the Boulevard Brewing Co. with a 5-gallon kettle in a converted railroad building in Kansas City, Mo. He soon moved the operation to a vintage Bavarian brew house, where he spent the next 20 years growing the business. Today, Boulevard delivers its distinctive Midwest brew to 19 states. Although the company's product range and distribution had grown, its used equipment hadn't. "We had taken the vintage equipment as far as it could go," says plant engineer Mike Utz. "The entire line needed to be revamped, and we knew that a proactive investment in our line was necessary to keep us competitive." So, Boulevard built a new 150-barrel, three-story brew house with a $6 million bottling line that could increase production and preserve quality and craftsmanship. Part of the new brew house was its palletizing equipment (Intelligrated, www.intelligrated.com).