State-of-the-Art Packaging Plant
Keeps Hell Energy Growing
One of the world's fastest growing energy drinks utilizes a modern and automated turnkey production facility to make sure its customers have "Power Like Hell."
Hell Energy, a Hungarian-owned brand, has taken the energy drink market by storm. And to keep up with growing demand, the Hell Energy Group has established Quality Pack, Hungary's first aluminum beverage can factory.
Just five years after the Hell Energy brand was founded, a modern filling plant was opened in 2011 near Szikszó, in the northeastern portion of Hungary. To accommodate growth and reduce dependency on outside suppliers, the Quality Pack can plant addition came online in 2017.
"Hell Energy is currently exported to 55 countries and growing," Plant Manager Zsolt Bodnár said. "The market is growing, and our growth every year is double digits.
"With the continuing growth after the filling factory was built, we were at the situation where we were able to consume enough cans, that we could build our own can plant," Bodnár added.
Working with tooling and system integrator Stolle Machinery, Hell Energy began installation of a complete can-making system in 2016, featuring a cupping press, shell press and end conversion press from Nidec Minster.
The Minster DAC-H165 cupper press gives Quality Pack the capacity to produce up to 4,900 cups per minute with a 14-out die. Additional high tech components to the can line include a Minster SAS-H60 shell press capable of running at 650 strokes per minute, and a Minster ECH-125 end conversion press. The ECH-125 is world renowned for its high speed production of easy-open can lids with extreme precision at 750 strokes per minute.
"At this moment the can line is working quite well," Bodnár said. "We have good numbers, good spoilages, and we are increasing the quantities."
In addition to the Minster presses, the 42,000 square meter Quality Pack facility includes all of the machinery and technology to prepare the cans for the adjacent filling facility.
"Our plants are connected with automatic bridges," Bodnár said. "We just need to transfer at the elevator and the cans can automatically go to the filling destination without ever touching a forklift or truck."
Constant development and the search for innovative solutions is part of the mission for Quality Pack, which has developed a unique raised can tab for easy opening with a fingertip. The product is patented in 28 European countries.
And according to Bodnár, the Minster presses contribute to the push for quality and innovation.
"We’ve had a few start-up corrections, but I can say the Minster presses are the best machines we have here," he said. "And the reaction from Minster is very good. If we have a question, the answer is always arriving right away."
Proudly utilizing 100 percent recycled aluminum materials, current production rates at Quality Pack are 1.5 billion 250 ml cans per year, produced solely for the various Hell Energy drink varieties and a few private label customers. And the ability for capacity expansion was "built-in" to the Quality Pack facility.
Bodnár explained that during the initial plant construction, foundations for a second can line were installed.
"Everything was set up with the second line in mind, because we wanted to avoid construction if we decided to install machinery for additional capacity," he said.
And with more and more people around the world getting "Power like Hell," officials at Quality Pack are anticipating adding another can line within the next two years.
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For more information about Hell Energy and its various products, visit the company online at www.hellenergy.com. For addition information about Quality Pack and its capacities, visit: www.qpack.hu.
