By: Alyssa L. Ochs
Bottle-filling machines are crucial pieces of equipment in the winery for getting products onto store shelves and into consumers’ hands. If your winery has been using the same filling machine for a long time, it might be time to consider an upgrade to match your current level of production and evolving needs.
Here is an overview of different bottle-filling machines to consider for an upgrade, how to compare this equipment, and tips for choosing the right product for your winery.
Bottle-Filling Machine Options
Although bottle-filling machines serve the same basic purpose and have similar functions, there are many options available. Overall, there are three different categories of bottle-filling systems: manual, semi-automatic and automatic. A logical place to start with choosing this type of equipment is to first consider the winery’s size.
Rod Silver handles marketing and sales for XpressFill Systems, LLC in San Luis Obispo, California. He told The Grapevine Magazine that manual fillers are more suited to very small wineries and home vintners because these devices fill just one bottle at a time. However, this is not practical for many wineries in operation today. XpressFill manufactures bottle- and can-filling machines handcrafted and custom-made for the wine, beer, spirits, olive oil and juice industries. The company also offers a volumetric filler, level filler, carbonated beverage counter-pressure bottle filler and hot fill bottling filler.
“It is more labor-intensive and less costly, and the production rate ranges from 100 to 200 bottles per hour,” Silver said about manual fillers.
The next step up is the semi-automatic filler, which requires some manual manipulation of the bottles but automates the fill start-and-stop sequence. These machines can typically fill between 200 and 500 bottles per hour.
“Small to medium wineries can benefit from semi-automatic fillers in achieving an economic and efficient bottling process,” Silver said. “Even larger wineries will often utilize a semi-automatic filler for smaller bottling runs where it is not cost-efficient to start up a production line.”
For large wineries, fully automated production lines are the way to go for maximum capacity and efficiency. However, Silver said that wineries should be aware that this setup requires a substantial capital investment and routine maintenance.
Jay Langejans, sales and spirits industry expert for Fogg Filler Company, told The Grapevine Magazine that Fogg’s gravity fillers are best for flat wines. He said its carbonated fillers are best for carbonated wines and still and sparkling wines on the same filler. Fogg filling machines have many applications, including wine, juice, antifreeze, bottled water and pharmaceutical products. Based in Holland, Michigan, the company also offers capping machines, bottle sanitizers, cap sanitizers and sorters.
“The F2 Series gravity filling machine is recommended for small wineries and fills 30 to 100 standard wine bottles per minute,” Langejans said. “For medium-sized wineries, the F6 Series gravity filling machine fills 90 to 150 standard wine bottles per minute, and for large wineries, the F9 Series gravity filling machine fills 150 to 200 standard wine bottles per minute.”
Comparing Different Bottle-Filling Machines
Depending on a winery’s needs, bottle-filling machines can be straightforward, operated by hand with manual controls. Filling machines can also be semi-automatic, increasing efficiency on the bottling line while staying within an equipment budget. Fully automated machines reduce labor in the bottling process but require significant commitments of space and money.
Langejans from Fogg Filler said, “Your production capacities for the whole line or the winery, in general, should be considered when picking the right-sized machine.”
In addition to the size and the degree of automation, some bottle-filling machines have special features, such as the ability to apply screw caps, which may be enticing for a winery with specific bottling goals. Other differences to consider when choosing a filling machine are speed, portability and ease of maintenance and cleaning.
The number of spouts on the machine determines filler speed, but the amount of wine in the holding tank is also a factor for how fast the bottles fill up. It can be beneficial to have an adjustable machine to fill different-sized bottles and other types of wine packaging. Semi-automatic machines that apply screw caps eliminate the need for spinners and corkers, which can ultimately increase bottling speed. Although screw capping is a more expensive feature, it uses less labor and creates better consistency.
Cost also varies depending on the filling machine. There is an industry-standard of between $2.00 and $4.00 per case for mobile bottling. Multiplying annual case production by that amount will give vintners a sense of how that compares to buying or upgrading a filling machine.
Many wineries start looking into semi-automation when they get to approximately 4,000 cases per year, and then at full automation when producing between 5,000 and 10,000 per year. An entirely manual bottling process for a small winery might require an investment of around $10,000. Once the winery reaches 2,000 cases per year, that investment looks more like $20,000, and then up to $40,000 as they exceed 4,000 annual cases produced.
When Is It Time for an Upgrade?
For many wineries, there comes a time when it is necessary to reconsider a current bottle-filling machine either because of functionality or capacity. When that time comes, wineries must assess their current and projected production levels. Of course, if the current system keeps breaking down or requires constant repairs, this is a clear sign that a replacement should likely happen sooner than later, so production speed and product quality don’t suffer.
Silver from XpressFill told The Grapevine Magazine that there are five primary factors for evaluating the benefits of an upgrade: cost of equipment, rate of production, cost of maintenance, cost of labor and equipment lifetime.
Choosing the Best Bottle Filling Machine for a Winery
While the mechanics of a bottle-filling machine are important in getting the most out of this time-saving equipment, it’s also beneficial to work with a trustworthy and reliable equipment provider. Consider the usefulness of the technology and how relevant that technology would be to winery operations. Also, consider the amount of staff training required to operate the machine and ensure workers’ safety and productivity.
Silver from XpressFill said new wineries should not over-purchase a system that could take two or more years to reach the equipment’s full capacity.
“It can be a major financial expenditure that takes too long to recover the investment, if ever,” he said.
For wineries trying to decide when to upgrade a bottle-filling machine, Silver said to perform a cost-benefit analysis based on the downtime, maintenance and hourly operating cost of the current system versus the replacement.
“Although a new system may have much greater production, the time for setup, configuring for filling and cleaning after filling may be much more labor-intensive and result in a net reduction in cost-effectiveness,” he said.
Calculating the pros and cons of investing in a new machine can be challenging and time-consuming, but it can also be worth the effort if it saves the winery money and helps get more wine out in the world for people to enjoy. Regarding cost, special feature options and customer service level, it pays to shop around before settling on a new machine or investing in the winery’s first filling system.
