Blanket replacement – but how?

Following the successful replacement of the units in Genshagen, CCEP was very interested in working with Rittal to extend the roll-out to its remaining 13 plants. Once a trial at the CCEP plant in Lüneburg had confirmed the extent of the savings, there was nothing standing in the way of the follow-up project. But how do you actually accomplish a blanket switchover of this kind? Norbert Borchert from the Aftermarket Field Sales team at Rittal explains.“In such cases, we analyse the current situation on site. On this basis, we then calculate potential savings and propose tailored solutions geared to the requirements. After all, a 1:1 replacement of units often also means a 1:1 reproduction of errors,” he says. Borchert is well aware that, in many cases, the technology inside the enclosure will have changed since the original cooling units were installed, so the dimensioning will no longer be appropriate. CCEP needed a higher cooling output than before in some places, but requirements were actually lower in some instances.

“JUST AS I IMAGINED”

The large-scale project started in 2023, and one plant after the other was equipped with the new cooling solutions. “The preparations by Rittal were excellent. All the plants were analysed in advance to create a basis for implementation,” reports Dieter Lennackers, Asset Care Manager at CCEP. Some coordination was required during the initial stages of implementation to avoid having to carry out time-consuming safety briefings for service engineers at every plant (about cutting work on the enclosures, for example). “Rittal established a core team for the project, with designated service staff who were trained on a one-off basis. Since then, things have run just as I imagined,” says Lennackers.

SUCCESS RESONATING ALL OVER EUROPE

Word of the successful mammoth project spread, attracting attention all over Europe. “Rittal has since been listed as a preferred supplier, and our data provides an example of best practice. The switchover has also been completed in Portugal, and other European countries are currently looking into the requirements,” says Happe.

In this way, cooling units are continuing to ensure close collaboration between Rittal and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. That includes Germany, too, as Lennackers confirms. “One project leads to another. We’re currently looking into the impact of replacing smaller cooling units or networking our units. In any case, a visit to Rittal showed me there are still a number of things we could do,” he concludes.