The highlight at our booth was certainly the Variopac Pro – and it demonstrated live how resource-efficient packaging concepts can also be processed with a conventional single-use packer. These LitePac Top Strap packages score highly in terms of sustainability because they hold 1.5-liter PET bottles together using only a cardboard clip and a band made of renewable raw materials – an alternative to traditional shrink packs made of film. The LitePac Top concept is not only suitable for large-volume PET containers but also for packs made of glass bottles and cans, which Krones also exhibited at interpack.

The Variopac Pro showcased at interpack can do even more: it also provided insight into the future of autonomous material supply. This is part of autonomous material handling within the Ingeniq concept. An Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) from our subsidiary System Logistics handles the transport and loading of packaging materials into the Variopac Pro – controlled via a digital solution from the Krones Group. At interpack, we thus demonstrated a practical example of how routine tasks can be automated and operator workload significantly reduced.

When it came to unlocking sustainability potential, Krones did not only focus on new packaging solutions but also worked on optimizing proven technologies. The latest example was the shrink tunnel – one of the more energy-intensive components in the Variopac Pro. Krones further refined its design, enabling energy savings of at least 20 percent during operation!

Read more in Krones magazine

In Düsseldorf, Krones also presented an innovative solution for container distribution: Robobox SynFlow. For the first time, robotics were used here—enabling particularly flexible and gentle handling at the packer infeed. A robot with parallel kinematics ensured that single- or dual-lane container flows were precisely distributed across three to nine lanes—for all common container types.