Why Heineken Sees Breweries in More Countries As a Likely Benefit of 3D Printing
This video describes various ways 3D printing streamlines and supports beverage production.
The video below from Ultimaker describes how beer maker Heineken is using the company’s 3D printers in its brewery in Seville, Spain. The applications include safety fittings on machinery, hand tools tailored to specific tasks, and hardware for optimizing the production line by solving small problems. A guard that prevents a stray bottle from blocking a sensor is an example of this.
One other application is replacement parts. As a Heineken representative here describes, the impact of this could be significant. One of the obstacles to locating a brewery in less-developed countries is long shipping time for parts and the resulting difficulty keeping the line running. The ability to 3D print components as needed on-site could make plants more self-sufficient and therefore allow for more localized production.
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