With over 150 breweries around the world, Heineken is one of the largest
global producers of beer. One brewery in Seville, Spain, produces
famous brands such as Cruzcampo, Desperados, Heineken, and Amstel.
The beer is brewed, packed, and then shipped throughout Spain and
beyond. Packaging Manager, Juan Padilla González has implemented
3D printing to increase uptime and efficiency at the Seville brewery.
Optimizing the manufacturing line
The Seville plant is able to produce up to 500 million liters of beer per year. But Heineken is always looking into new ways to improve their already impressive efficiency. That’s why they started to investigate the possibilities of 3D printing.
After setting up a 3D printing lab, the team set goals to improve the manufacturing process in terms of output, uptime, and safety. Heineken started looking for various methods of optimizing the manufacturing machines. They quickly realized that 3D printing gives them the flexibility and speed they need, while still being affordable and easy to implement.
“We’re still in the first stages of 3D printing but have
already seen a reduction of costs in the applications
that we found by 70 – 90%, and also a decrease of
delivery time of 70 – 90%.”
