Air Knives Let Company Stand Out: System gives brewer extra edge over competition

The Achievement
“Thanks to the professional team at STANMECH , we are saving time, money and raising the quality of our product,” says Sylvain Plourde, president of Les Trois Mousquetaires, a beer manufacturer in Brossard, Quebec.

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The Challenge
The company needed a fast, efficient and economical system for drying beer bottles before they were labelled during the production process.

Why STANMECH
Sylvain chose to work with STANMECH because “they had prompt local technical representation and good descriptive examples from their literature and professional Web site,” he declares.

The Details
Les Trois Mousquetaires had a real nightmare with their bottle washing and drying.

“We used to wash, rinse, label and leave our bottles to dry in cold storage for three days before the filling process,” explains Sylvain. “After filling, some of the bottles would stay humid and the labels didn’t always stick well. Some would wrinkle, peel and slide off completely. It resulted in numerous bottle rejects and decreased production.  We had to increase our manpower, drying time and resources to produce only limited results.”

They contacted STANMECH in July, and STANMECH staff began studying the company’s production process. They surveyed and recorded the environmental and production parameters, photographed equipment and drew the production layout. STANMECH then took bottles for a simulation of the production conditions to test various drying solutions.

“They didn’t try to sell us a system on the spot,” says Sylvain. “They wanted to work with us to solve our problem. That impressed us.”

Solution Specifics
STANMECH recommended an economical and energy-efficient air knife bottle-drying system that would save energy, eliminate bottle moisture and reduce production time. The system was made up of a JET2 high-speed motor and blower 550 VAC 3-phase, a variable  frequency drive 20HP 400-480 VAC with a human interface module, four 22-inch jet blast air knives and mounts, and eight nozzles.

“STANMECH presented an investment analysis that showed a payback for us in less than one year,” notes Sylvain. “The system came as a turnkey package with pre-programmed settings customized for our production drying goals. It was very easy to assemble and hook up out of the box. We just had to plug and play!”

The Results
“It helped us get the weekends off!” jokes Sylvain of the STANMECH air-knife system. More seriously, he adds that the solution has tripled their production. There have been other benefits as well.

“We are currently one of the only micro breweries in Quebec that uses self-adhering labels on our beer bottles because of the very efficient job from STANMECH’s Airknife system,”  says Sylvain. “We no longer are limited to standardized labels. Now we can create versatile and creative label designs. This makes us stand out from the rest.”

STANMECH Technologies Inc.
STANMECH Technologies Inc. has been providing solutions for processes that involve the precise application of heat and air since 1981. With expertise in plastics forming and joining methods, as well as heat and air sources for industrial applications, STANMECH provides customized solutions for specific applications challenges in most industries across Canada. Leister products are available in Canada only through STANMECH and its distributor network. STANMECH is also an exclusive distributor for JetAir Technologies, LLC and Secomak products in Canada.