IN Brief:
- The Varioline 1M configuration handles beverage bottles or prepared multipacks in crates using continuous motion.
- An internal 180-degree change of crate direction allows parallel infeed and outfeed conveyors on the same machine side.
- Krones cites capacity of up to 103,000 containers per hour, with early deployment at Krombacher in Germany.
Krones has introduced a single-end version of its Varioline 1M packer that turns beverage crates through 180 degrees while they travel through the machine. Both crate infeed and discharge conveyors connect on the same side, leaving the other three sides available for access. The design extends an existing pick-and-place system rather than launching an entirely new packaging platform.
The equipment is intended for placing individual containers or prepared multipacks into crates. Krones specifies a potential throughput of up to 103,000 containers per hour, equivalent to approximately 4,300 packs an hour in the cited application. Actual capacity will depend on the container, pack and line configuration; the maximum figure should not be read as a guaranteed operating rate at every installation.
The single-lane 1M variant takes its basic pick-and-place function from the wider modular Varioline system. The broader platform can combine more than 20 secondary and tertiary packaging arrangements, but the 1M configuration concentrates on the crate-packing operation. Its distinguishing feature is the way containers and crates remain in controlled motion while their paths are coordinated inside a comparatively compact machine.
In a conventional packer, bottles may be brought to a stop against a fixed guide before being collected for insertion into crates. The Krones arrangement synchronises its handling robot with the moving incoming container stream. That removes the need for the same stop-and-start collection sequence and, according to the manufacturer, reduces contact noise and abrasion caused by repeated bottle handling.
Crate direction is reversed without stopping the packaging sequence. Krones uses dedicated axis technology to carry and position each moving crate as the synchronised robot transfers bottles or multipacks from the incoming conveyor. Accurate positioning is essential because the crate must reach the loading point at the correct phase of the pick-and-place cycle. Krones says this approach maintains the speed available from a conventional straight-through configuration.
Parallel conveyor connections allow a bottling line to return towards its upstream side instead of passing straight through the packer. That changes the space needed for connections to accumulation conveyors and downstream palletising equipment, especially where existing columns, access routes or services limit available floor area. The plant layout must still accommodate the turn, the incoming product flow and the positions from which maintenance staff can reach the drives and handling equipment.
Krones says the configuration leaves three sides available for operation and maintenance. Shorter walking distances can assist fault response and format changes, particularly in dry-end areas where several machines compete for technician access. However, the company has not published a standardised footprint reduction or labour saving that would apply across all installations, and the layout advantage will depend on the surrounding conveyor design.
The first two units of this configuration were ordered by Germany’s Krombacher brewery. They form part of a broader dry-end modernisation programme in which Krones has been replacing equipment on four lines while the brewery continues operating. The programme also includes depalletising, unpacking and palletising equipment, making integration with existing line speeds and handling sequences a central consideration.
The first machine of the single-end variant entered service in early 2025. The 5 November 2026 introduction therefore follows an initial operating period, during which Krones says it has incorporated lessons from production into later engineering and customer projects. The supplier has not identified the date on which Krombacher’s second unit entered service, and its announced customer orders should not be confused with two completed installations.
Published specifications establish the machine’s handling principle and maximum rated output, but they do not quantify an increase in overall equipment effectiveness, lower electricity consumption or reduced breakage in the Krombacher installation. Krones attributes gentler handling and less contact noise to picking bottles from a continuously moving stream. The net effect on an individual plant also depends on crate format, access requirements and the operating rates of connected machines.
Crate flow must remain coordinated with upstream accumulation, bottle transport and downstream palletising so that the packer receives products and empty crates at the required intervals. A machine rated at 103,000 containers per hour cannot lift the throughput of a bottling line whose filler, labeller or palletiser operates more slowly. Conversely, a one-sided conveyor arrangement may make an otherwise difficult line layout possible without altering the capacity of those other stages.
Krombacher’s wider dry-end investment has involved changing equipment across four production lines while the brewery remains operational. Subsequent applications of the Varioline 1M single-end design will depend on whether the available floor space, container formats and upstream and downstream speeds match the requirements of continuous handling. Krones has specified the configuration’s throughput and operating principle, while installation-specific output figures remain dependent on each line.
