Brewer Demonstrates the Art of Retaining Your Roots
DB Breweries Otahuhu brewing and packaging 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 society and public attendees as part of the Maintenance Engineering Society Network
Session in May.
The limited group of attendees were treated to a detailed tour of the Otahuhu 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 sites own 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 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.
The 2014 SKF National Maintenance Engineering Conference will be held at Hamilton in November.
ENDS