Neumarkter Lammsbräu, Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, Germany
The market-leading Neumarkter Lammsbräu is Germany’s largest organic brewery. A family firm dating back hundreds of years, it combines proud tradition with a passionate commitment to sustainability across all its activities.
“We’ve been committed to organic farming for decades,” says the company’s CEO, Johannes Ehrnsperger. “We assume responsibility from the field to the glass.” Alongside its organic beer, the company also produces organic lemonade and mineral water, and its organic malthouse is the only one of its kind in the world. When the time came to expand the malthouse‘s capacity, Bühler’s own firm commitment to the sustainability agenda made it the perfect partner. One of Neumarkter Lammsbräu’s key aims in modernising the malthouse was to dramatically cut energy use, something that Bühler helped them to achieve as part of its steadfast commitment to a 50% reduction in energy, water consumption and waste across its customers’ value chains by 2025.
The modernization project was hugely challenging for a number of reasons, not least the fact that the building – which needed to be preserved – is almost 70 years old. The construction of a new logistics hall at the same time also meant there was no available storage space, so all plant components had to be delivered to an incredibly tight and precise schedule. The silo capacity was sufficient to keep the brewhouse supplied with malt for five weeks, which meant that any interruption to the conveying routes had to be meticulously planned to avoid disruption to the supply – part of a “parallel operation of old and new technology” says Ehrnsperger.
“Everything had to be done “just in time as there was no space at the plant”, adds Area Sales Manager for Bühler, Johannes Kolb. “We delivered the trucks when they were needed to make the setup as smooth as possible, and production was never at a standstill during the project. The confidence in a good project and a successful cooperation on both sides was there from the beginning.”
Having Bühler as the sole partner for such a simultaneously large-scale and intricate undertaking greatly reduced the project‘s complexity, says Ehrnsperger, while the close proximity of Bühler’s Beilngries site also proved to be a major advantage. Alongside the automation and visualization of the plant’s processes, another major benefit was the improvement in the already high quality of the malt. “We can determine the taste of our organic beers ourselves through the malting process,“ says Ehrnsperger. “This is all the more important for us because only a few breweries in Germany still have their own malting plants“, with the rest needing to buy in their malt instead – and therefore having no control over the quality of the raw material.
Neumarkter Lammsbräu had a very precise ‘wish list‘, and the two companies worked closely together from concept development right through to implementation to fulfill this. Neumarkter Lammsbräu were highly impressed with Bühler‘s solution-oriented way of working along with its unfailing commitment to quality and “in-depth understanding of our concerns”, says Ehrnsperger. Having consistent, central points of contact was another major advantage throughout, and helped to contribute to the seamless teamwork and high levels of trust.
Bühler supplied five brand-new germination boxes for the malthouse as well as new silo systems, and expanded the plant’s capacity to 4,500 metric tons of malt. It also provided an innovative energy management system which not significantly reduces energy consumption but also gives Neumarkter Lammsbräu complete control over the plant’s fans and entire germination process, while another key part of the project was the full automation of the plant
“Bühler has a very broad product portfolio with the relevant experts – and everything under one roof,” Ehrnsperger continues. “Added to this are fast response times and, if necessary, good support, as well as a central process control system and clearly assigned contact persons. The comments and experiences of our employees were heard and taken into account at all times.”
The optimization of production that’s come with automation means the company can now fully run the malthouse on a normal production day with just a single operative, guaranteeing a smooth, seven-day operation without the need to recruit more staff.
“The modernization of our organic malthouse was certainly a very complex task, both in terms of the plant itself and the spatial and operational conditions,’ concludes Ehrnsperger. “Nevertheless, the work was carried out smoothly in the existing plant and during ongoing operations. From our point of view, the cooperation was optimal. We are very satisfied.”
The modernization of our organic malthouse has led to improvements in work processes throughout. This already started with the smooth assembly and commissioning, and continues in the daily work.
Johannes Ehrnsperger ,
CEO, Neumarkter Lammsbräu
Gupfenstrasse 5
Uzwil
9240
Switzerland
