Highest wine quality in Japan: Minebea Intec EWK integrated checkweigher ensures reliability

Minebea Intec (Japan) – Smurfit Kappa Group produces both high-quality Bag-in-Box® packaging systems and the associated packaging machines at its production facility in France. The weighing range of the EWK checkweigher and the proven EMFR load cell technology. The high reliability is an important criterion for the Japanese market, where the company needed a packaging line with a high-performance filling ma- chine to meet the high quality demands from the Japanese winemaker.

The checkweigher has been in operation in Fujisawa (south of Tokyo and Yokohama) since December 2021 and ensures high-quality wine filling in three-litre bags. The fully-automatic process includes the supply of bags, the separation and opening of the bags, air extraction as well as filling with wine, sealing and packing in the cardboard box. After packaging, the EWK checkweigher from Minebea Intec takes over the weight control of the line. All bag sizes used in the system with a volume of 1.5 to 20 litres can be reliably checked thanks to the large weighing range of the EWK checkweigher and the proven EMFR load cell technology. The high reliability is an important criterion for the Japanese market, where the tolerance limit for underfilled pack- ages is even lower than in most parts of the world.

The strong presence of the “Minebea” brand in Japan paid off in the implementation of the project during the pandemic, as it was possible to fall back on a local service team from the Japanese parent company MinebeaMitsumi. The onsite support provided by an experienced engineer during the commissioning and initial test runs of the checkweigher in the local language was greatly appreciated by the Japanese wine producer. “A worldwide service network with quickly deployable, highly competent engineers on site pays off. This became particularly clear during the pandemic,” says Bernard Palm, Sales Manager at Minebea Intec.

“We operate in a sector where wine needs to be filled immediately and reliably. Minebea Intec has already been a very reliable partner for many years. Once the checkweigher is up and running, it works reliably shift after shift.” Emmanuel Antonelli, Project manager at Smurfit Kappa Bag-in-Boxt.