Engineers says ‘cheers’ for brewery tour

DB Breweries’ Otahuhu plant has a history stretching right throughout last century, so when it comes to running, maintaining and showing off their manufacturing plant, an extensive legacy of experience promises an evening of interest and conviviality.

Brewery engineer Peter Benyon certainly knows his plant and process well, and this was evident to a full capacity group of MESNZ society and public attendees as part of the society’s network session in May.

The limited group of attendees were treated to a detailed tour of the brewing and packaging plant, which took in the historic copper brewing plant, the new ultra modern high efficiency process, and the high speed packaging plant, before testing the finished product in the site’s tasting lounge.

The strong sense of history at DB Breweries was a refreshing ethos, far too uncommon in the modern environment and much appreciated by all.

From an engineering point of view, the issues and processes were similar in nature to a dairy plant, although the aggressive nature of the product in the brewing environment was a surprise to many and a source of wonder to those with a metallurgical bent.

The site has various eras of development and the engineering team has evolved to cope with challenges this presents. Particular interest was focused on the application of 5S quality methods to the workshop and the maintenance management processes.

The Maintenance Engineering Society is active across New Zealand, providing opportunities for maintenance engineers and manufacturing operations to network and share innovations and experiences; both at a national level at their annual conference or at these regional events. The next Auckland region network evening will be at SupaGas (Wiri) on August 7.