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In The Winery
tures, 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 consis- operations. Also, consider the amount of staff train-
tency.
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 pro-
duced.
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 capac-
ity. 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.
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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 provid-
er. Consider the usefulness of the technology and
how relevant that technology would be to winery
ing 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, main-
tenance and hourly operating cost of the current
system versus the replacement.
“Although a new system may have much great-
er 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.
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