E-quipment highlight: KUKA robots keep the kegs of Yuengling moving [video]

It may market itself as “America’s Oldest Brewery,” but the D.G. Yuengling and Son, Inc. brewery in Pottsville, Pennsylvania has been on the leading edge of manufacturing innovation for decades. Recently, Yuengling replaced its original automation equipment with new, state-of-the-art robots from Kuka.

Built by KUKA Robotics and deployed at both Yuengling’s keg line at Millcreek (not far from the company’s original brewery, which was founded in 1829 and is still in operation) and its Tampa, Florida keg line opened in 2006, the new factory robots are faster, stronger, and more energy efficient than the machines they replaced, saving the company on both time and electricity while providing a more simplified, uniform maintenance schedule than the older systems they were brought in to replace.

And, as with almost all things electric and automation, there’s a safety advantage to having machines swinging around heavy things instead of people.

“We basically wore out our original (machines),” explains Bill Friedman, Electrical Services Manager at Yuengling’s Tampa, Florida, facility. “Just their ages and the number of hours on them justified the need for updated automation … plus, people don’t want to handle kegs all day, and there’s always a risk of injury.”

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Each of Yuengling’s two keg lines utilizes a pair of KUKA robot arms that are identical in size, reach and payload to perform depalletization and palletization of the company’s lager, at the rate of about four half kegs (15.5-gallon capacity) and eight quarter kegs (7.25-gallon capacity) per pallet. Each half keg weighs in at about 165 lbs. (75 kg), and each KUKA robot handles two kegs at a time during the palletization process.

Electrek’s Take

I love automation like this: real, effective machinery that’s improving the lives of the people that live and work around it. This kind of no-nonsense, real-world robotics has been improving people’s lives for decades behind the scenes, and there is virtually zero chance that something like the Optimus robot from Tesla (TSLA) will ever come close to delivering the level of service that these KUKA arms can, today.

The brewing company put together a great video at the Yuengling keg line in Tampa, which I’ve included here (below). Give it a minute of your life, then let us know how you think a humanoid robot might compare in the comments.

KUKA robots at the Yuengling keg line

SOURCE | IMAGES: KUKA Robotics.