In October 2016, mechanical engineering company GEA delivers its first CRAFT-STAR™ 4-vessel brewhouse to Washington, D.C. The system is scheduled to begin commercial operation early next year. The customer is DC Brau Brewing Company, a highly renowned manufacturer of craft beers in the U.S. capital.

The CRAFT-STAR™ is specifically designed for medium-sized specialty breweries with batch sizes of 40 hectoliters (35 U.S. barrels) hot wort. The system was previously equipped with two or three vessels (mash tun kettle, lauter tun and combined whirlpool/wort kettle – depending on the configuration) and has been retrofitted with a separate whirlpool by the GEA brewery experts in Kitzingen/Germany. Now, up to seven brews a day are possible. The basic configuration already allowed for five brews a day. The CRAFT-STAR™ is preassembled and tested in Kitzingen as a compact plug & play system with process piping, instrumentation and a semi-automatic control system. Commissioning on site just takes a few days.

Due to the large share of high-quality special malts in use at most craft beer breweries, the extract efficiency of the brewhouse, based on the lauter tun efficiency, is essential to business success: The extract yield of up to 98 percent makes the CRAFT-STAR™ a leader in this discipline. “We are truly impressed with the plant’s capacity," says Jeff Hancock, co-founder of DC Brau Brewing Company. “We were searching for a versatile brewhouse suitable for the efficient production of high-quality beer for our growing brewery." The products include the award-winning DC Brau creations “The Public”, a classicAmerican Pale Ale, and “The Citizen”, a Belgian-Style Blond Ale. Brandon Skall, founding partner of DC Brau Brewing Company, adds: "The CRAFT-STAR™ system will allow us to continue to expand distribution of our award-winning flagship beers, while giving us the flexibility to experiment with new beer styles and recipes.”

“Since the market launch two years ago, the CRAFT STAR™ has been popular big hit," says Andreas Holleber, head of the GEA brewery business. “We now get orders from all around the world. Right now, we are also installing a brewhouse we designed as a complete plant together with other components for a South Korean customer." Other orders are taking GEA brewing experts to South Africa, Belgium and Hong Kong. The United States have a very creative, lively and professional specialty beer scene making them the key market for GEA craft beer plants. Half of the plants designed and manufactured in Kitzingen already went to the United States. GEA installed the first CRAFT-STAR™ in 2015, for The Bruery in Placentia, California, one of the top players of the craft beer scene in the United States. Beers produced using the CRAFT-STAR™ received several medals at this year’s Great American Beer Festival.

The CRAFT-STAR™ benefits at a glance:

Flexible and versatile brewhouse design with a cast-out quantity of 40 hectoliters (35 U.S. barrels) for up to seven brews per dayConsistent focus on specialty beers and maximum versatility through oversized vessels and select GEA technologiesPreassembly and testing at GEA keeps project times short and allows fast installation as well as low cost on-site servicesThe plant design is global, earthquake resistant and ASME compliant for variable voltage and steam suppliesClear media interfaces ease integration of existing equipmentComplete control over the lautering process thanks to differential pressure measuring and proven GEA technologies for extremely high extract yields of up to 98 percentReliable, constant brewing outcome through intelligent automation with GEARBOXX™, including recipe database, brew evaluation and management, as well as remote supportSmall footprint saves space in the brewhousePolished or matte blasted vessel cladding for an attractive appearance

GEA, one of the largest suppliers of processing technology for the global dairy and food industry, installs a high performance spray dryer as the centerpiece of the new milk powder plant in Lichfield, New Zealand. For its customer Fonterra, GEA developed the best performing and the most efficient spray dryer currently available on the market. With the capacity of 30 tons of milk powder per hour, it can process nearly 4.4 million liters of milk per day. This volume corresponds to 165 truckloads. On September 5, 2016, Fonterra started the production process, which is now being gradually expanded to round-the-clock operation.

GEA was responsible for the complete turnkey milk powder plant and provided all of the processing technology – from acceptance of the tanker to evaporation, drying and powder handling to packaging. When you know the sheer size of the spray dryer, you can clearly imagine the dimensions of the actual plant: its drying chamber weighs about 200 tons with the diameter of 18 meters. During assembly, it was lifted 34 meters above the roof of the building and had to be placed precisely within the building.

The spray dryer is the second of the kind, built by GEA. Its sister plant Darfield II, also operated by Fonterra in New Zealand, has been producing reliably high-quality powdered milk since December 2013. For Lichfield, the GEA experts developed several innovations, which simplify the processes on site and reduce the total cost of ownership. In particular, energy efficiency was a key focus for the project team. For instance, the plant requires very little process water as the evaporator condensate is filtered through the membrane of a high-pressure reverse osmosis system and, because of the GEA technology, this water can be re-used during processing. As a result, Fonterra is required to maintain much less wastewater treatment capacity at the site. By focusing on overall equipment efficiency, energy consumption and waste minimization, the completed milk processing plant is one of the most efficient in the industry.

Fonterra belongs to of the major milk producers in the world. Its Chief Operating Officer Robert Spurway points out the strategic importance of powder production to the co-operative’s overall asset mix: “Premium milk powder is a valuable product for us. The capacity the new Lichfield plant takes the pressure off during the peak of the season, meaning we have more freedom to prioritize milk into higher returning products.” Fonterra will export the premium milk powder from Lichfield to as many as 20 markets, including the Middle East, China and South-East Asia. The official opening of the milk processing plant in Lichfield is scheduled for December 2016.

“Highly-productive and efficient spray dryers, such as the one in Lichfield, play a decisive role in the industry“, says Clint Brown, responsible for the GEA operation in New Zealand. “The demand for milk in the expanding markets, such as China, can only be met by easily transportable and stable milk powder. This is processed regionally into various dairy products with the help of other GEA technologies”. To this purpose, the GEA experts plan, construct and deliver complete systems and components for production, process cooling, drying, filling and packaging of dairy products.

Based on preliminary figures for September 2016, GEA expects for Q3 2016 sales around EUR 1,100 million (last year EUR 1,107 million, -1.8% organic change – i.e. adjusted for currency and acquisition effects – against Q3 2015), order intake around EUR 1,084 million (last year EUR 1,068 million, 0.3% organic change against Q3 2015) and operating EBITDA* around EUR 113 million (last year EUR 144 million).

Influencing factors for sales

Business Area Solutions:

Slower execution mainly of dairy processing projects – in large parts customer induced – and decline in cooling solutions for the oil and gas industry leading to an approx. 4.5% organic decline

Business Area Equipment:

Limited overall growth in light of an organic decline of approx. 8% in the dairy farming business

Influencing factors for order intake

Only slight organic growth due to delays in the placement of larger dairy processing orders which were expected for Q3 2016, as well as a continuing investment-restraint in the dairy farming and oil and gas industries.

Influencing factors EBITDA

Business Area Solutions:

Cost overruns in a couple of large projects including additional provisions for remaining risks from these; adverse operating leverage effect from approx. 4.5% organic sales decline of the entire business area in Q3 2016 compared to previous year

Business Area Equipment:

Adverse operating leverage effect from 8% organic sales decline in the dairy farming business during Q3 2016 compared to previous year

The figures for September revealed that adverse impacts for the group had accrued to such an extent that further potentials to fully mitigate these impacts until year’s end by countermeasures such as additional saving initiatives seemed exhausted. While all other businesses are on track, they cannot mitigate the above mentioned adverse effects any more.

As a consequence, GEA adjusts its guidance for the financial year 2016 with assumptions unchanged as follows:

Moderate sales decline against prior year (previously: moderate increase)An operating EBITDA* of around EUR 570 million including approx. EUR 10 million from the acquisition Imaforni (previously: guided range between EUR 645 million and EUR 715 million without Imaforni)Operating cash flow driver margin** around 10% (previously: 10.0-11.0%)

The mid-term financial targets given at the occasion of the Capital Markets Day at the beginning of October 2016 are confirmed in all aspects (see CMD 2016 presentation p. 98; accessible at www.gea.com).

GEA’s Q3 results will be published on 28 October 2016.

* operating EBITDA is defined in GEA’s half-yearly financial report 2016, p. 42

** operating cash flow driver margin is defined in GEA’s half-yearly financial report 2016, p. 3, FN 2

GEA’s half-yearly financial report 2016 is accessible at gea.com.

The notification has been published on October 19, 2016, at 11.52pm.

With GEA PerformancePlus GEA is offering its customers service level options that extend way beyond routine preventive maintenance and complement customer Industry 4.0 strategic efforts.

By combining modern condition monitoring technologies with its industry expertise, GEA provides its customers monitoring services, comprehensive analysis reports and reliable optimization recommendations. In turn, GEA customers receive valuable information to make business decisions easier and addressing challenges they face to achieve their specific performance-related goals. GEA PerformancePlus creates transparency about the current health status of the equipment, increases its availability, ensures optimum productivity, brings efficiency optimization potential to light and enables a sustainable equipment utilization. GEA PerformancePlus enables a speedy evaluation of the opportunities and risks of changing production requirements, orders can be assessed and economically scheduled in turn leading to higher productivity for GEA customers.

GEA PerformancePlus will initially be available for GEA separators; on the mid-term it will be extended to other GEA product groups.

GEA was awarded for best manufacturing technology and equipment at the CPhI Pharma Awards, which took place this week during the leading trade fair CPhI Worldwide in Barcelona, Spain. As a frontrunner in the design and supply of state of the art manufacturing solutions for both solid and liquid dosage forms, GEA won the Award “Excellence in Pharma: Manufacturing Technology and Equipment” for their ConsiGma™ continuous processing platform.

The ConsiGma™ continuous tableting line is a multipurpose platform that has been designed to transfer powder into coated tablets in development, pilot, clinical and production facilities in a single compact unit. The system can perform dosing and mixing of raw materials, wet or dry granulation, drying, tableting, coating and quality control, all in one integrated solution.

“For us, continuous manufacturing (CM) is fundamental to the future of the pharmaceutical industry, CM represents an exciting step forward in drug production,” said Marcus Michel, Executive Vice President of GEA’s Pharma business. “That ConsiGma™ has been recognized by a panel of industry peers reflects and reinforces GEA’s philosophy of implementing CM systems, particularly for high value products. We thank the judges for their considered appraisal of our technology, which is important for both our company and our customers, and the team behind our ConsiGma™ portfolio. We feel that CPhI is an excellent environment to present our advanced manufacturing solutions and enhance our clients’ ability to develop and create high quality products,” he added.

“To receive this award amongst a number of very strong contenders is an incredible result and underpins the industry trend of implementing CM solutions. It’s a milestone in the production of OSDs (Oral Solid Dosage) and truly represents the future of pharma manufacturing,” concluded Marcus Michel.

It’s thanks to GEA’s ConsiGma™ that, in 2015, Vertex Pharmaceuticals became the first pharma company to receive FDA approval for a therapeutic that was both developed and commercially manufactured using a CM platform. And GEA’s ConsiGma™ 25 unit forms the basis of a groundbreaking – also award-winning – collaboration between Pfizer, GSK and G-CON to develop the next generation of portable, continuous, miniature and modular (PCMM) solutions for pharma production. These on-demand mini-factories can be set up to manufacture medicines at any production scale, anywhere in the world where basic facilities are available. GEA is convinced that ConsiGma™ will revolutionize the way that tablets are produced.

Process engineering group, GEA, will showcase cutting-edge automation and sensor-based technologies for the dairy industry at this year’s EuroTier (November 15 – 18, 2016, Hanover, Germany). They will empower customers to produce milk safely and increase animal health, while optimizing revenues and milk quality – all while coping with today’s challenging market environment. GEA’s product solutions are smartly linking farm, barn, herd and health management.

Patented innovation: sensor technology identifies cases of suspected mastitis during milking

With CMIQ monitoring, GEA is presenting the world’s first real-time system for effective early detection of mastitis at the quarter level. The CMIQ sensor records the milk composition of each individual quarter during the overall milking process. It analyzes and compares existing data on short notice, so any necessary action can start right after milking, from the automatic selection of infected or at-risk animals and treatment and progress checks during lactation periods, through to animal management adjustments. As a result, the CMIQ sensor technology leads to verifiably improved herd health with less work. GEA is launching the system for its automated milking systems DairyProQ and Monobox in 2017.

GEA DairyNet: Successful partnership between GEA and 365FarmNet bears new fruit

GEA DairyNet offers dairies a web-based herd management system which facilitates the division of the herd into specific feeding groups. It is a key element in the 365FarmNet platform. Thanks to this, farmers can document, evaluate and manage cattle rearing processes in combination with crop management for the first time. Combining the expertise of the individual partners GEA, fodjan and 365FarmNet within a new “365Feeding” concept gives farmers new ways to best adjust feeding to the animals’ performance potential. Consequently, the farmer boosts animal health while also improving herd performance.

Another mobile software has been developed with the aim of further optimizing the overview of all livestock farming and crop management processes: the 365ActiveBox with the 365Time app. The boxes with SmartSensor technology send data directly to the farmer's smartphone. By these simple means, working and machine times can be recorded, temperatures displayed and monitored, and animal weighing data transmitted to the dairy farmer who can intervene at any stage.

Automated milking systems from GEA continue to make headway

GEA DairyProQ, the automated and modular milking rotary parlor, is already in operation with more than 500 milking stalls following successful pilot projects. It has now entered serial production. Good news: GEA is offering its customers an extended warranty of up to five years for the DairyProQ system. With a new improved design, the milking stall module enables fast service.

The youngest member in the automation range, the GEA Monobox, has also been very well received on the market. Since March 2016 more than 200 individual boxes have already been sold in 15 countries. Unlike other products on the market, the GEA Monobox handles all milking-related processes in one attachment operation. It also includes the verifiably safe Apollo system for automatic dipping within the teat cup.

GEA Apollo system approved by leading milk processing companies

The Apollo system, a technology specially developed by GEA to improve udder health and prevent mastitis, ensures that automated dipping and backflushing processes run with maximum reliability and produce high quality milk in both automated and conventional parlours. Careful dipping and intermediate disinfection of the milking cluster prevent the transmission of mastitis pathogens, thereby minimizing the spread of infection. Independent testing confirmed complete product safety. Based on these tests, GEA was granted exclusive sales authorization in certain countries by leading milk processing companies, including Arla Foods and the Dutch Dairy Association (NZO).

GEA MixedFeeder WIC: How smart are automatic feeding systems?

Since July 2016, GEA’s product developers have been adding the control software WIC (Wireless Integrated Control) to the tried-and-tested GEA MixFeeder. The WIC system directly connects raw feed stores and silos and controls each individual step of the process fully automatically: from the precise weighing and mixing of the feed components in accordance with set feeding plans and specifications, to time-controlled group feeding. The MixFeeder with WIC ensures that each group of animals receives the individual feed blend it needs, tailored to its performance level. The WIC software can be controlled via PC or touch panel.

GEA enhances automated barn equipment: FRone

With GEA FRone, a robot pushes the feed in front of the feed fences instead of the farmer – saving his precious time. This ensures that cows always have access to fresh feed, regardless of the order in which they feed. As a result, they eat more often and remain healthy and productive. Besides reducing the workload, the continuous pushing means less food is wasted and productivity is increased.

GEA SRone+ manure scraper is an advanced version of SRone

GEA has recently launched the new manure scraper SRone+ specially designed for more complex stall layouts and alleys of up to 12,000 square metres. Besides many other special functions, the SRone+ features high-tech equipment with a gyroscope, extensive RFID/TAG sensor technology and semi-rigid PUR wheels. SRone+ is a premium version of the tried-and-tested basic unit, SRone, for simpler stall layouts, and which starts without any programming.

Find out more at our EuroTier press conference on Tuesday, November 15, 2016, at 11:00 a.m. in Hall 13/14 of the Hanover Trade Fair Convention Centre.

The Apollo system for automated dipping made by GEA ensures complete food safety. Independent testing and inspections confirmed that the milk never comes into contact with the cleaning agents. Based on these tests GEA was granted exclusive sales authorization in certain countries by leading milk processing companies, including Arla Foods and the Dutch Dairy Association (NZO). Others are set to be announced soon.

GEA experts designed the Apollo system specifically to guarantee maximum safety and milk quality by the use of automated processes. A smart valve technology – the heart of the system – carefully separates the milk and cleaning agents. Water, dipping and disinfection agents never come into contact with the tank milk. Apart from the milk quality the Apollo system also helps to improve udder health: careful dipping and intermediate disinfection of the milking cluster prevent mastitis pathogens and thus infections from spreading. Apollo is designed for both conventional and automated milking. It comprises milking, dipping, teat cup cleaning and intermediate disinfection. For automated milking, even the attachment, pre-dipping and teat cleaning stages are covered.

GEA milking systems are continuously optimized and are well-known for their process reliability. The technology within the Apollo system is world-leading in the field of food-safe milk production with both conventional and automated milking systems. And it provides long-term benefits for milk producers: the milking process becomes faster, easier and more efficient, the risk of illness within the herd decreases, working processes are standardized, and high milk quality is guaranteed.

We dare for dairy… So do you? As one of the major players in dairy GEA sponsors the IDF World Dairy Summit 2016

The global dairy community is invited to discuss future solutions of the dynamic global dairy sector.

Date: October 16 – 21, 2016Location: Conference Centre De Doelen, Rotterdam, The NetherlandsFinding GEA: booth no. 11

How can we increase animal welfare and performance and secure the best product quality while minimizing the use of resources? How can we optimize the value chain of milk processing offering added-value for consumers as well as farmers and manufacturers? Based on the motto “From farm to table” GEA approaches these questions from both the dairy farming and dairy processing perspective. Our experts answer these questions on our booth and in two speaking slots:

Presentation Alex Strolenberg, GEA expert for sensor solutions: Dairy Farming 4.0 – How the digital change can improve animal welfare

Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2016, between 03:00 – 04:00 pmSummary: Dairy Farming 4.0 means having smart data instead of big data to the benefit of the animal and the farmer. The new technologies like automated processes, self-learning systems, monitoring tools, and collaborating cross-manufacturer product systems are helping to make the animal health status more predictable and raise animal welfare.

Presentation Anders Sehested, GEA expert for milk drying solutions: Application of sensors and smart controls for efficient spray drying

Date: Wednesday, October 19, 2016, 11:50 am – 12:10 pmSummary: Recent debates on spray drying of milk products are covering process improvement minimizing operational costs, improving product quality and making installations safer. Get to know new methods for efficient spray drying allowing for precise process control and continuous quality monitoring.

GEA and A&P Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding a cooperative partnership for the promotion of the ballast water treatment system GEA BallastMaster marineX at the marine trade fair SMM in Hamburg, Germany. The MoU with A&P Group covers the complete requirement from vessel survey, supply, installation, commissioning and service of the GEA BallastMaster marineX system by A&P Group.

The newest version of the system as just released, features an in-line driver design, incorporated junction box and increased power supply range. These new features reduce the installation footprint by approximately 30 percent and the mechanical and electrical installation requirements significantly on any refit or newbuild project.

GEA compressors fulfill the high maritime demands for many years already. They help to provide a comfortable climate in cabins, keep provisions cooled and are additionally used in many other applications. GEA compressors also work reliably on container ships, passenger ships or fishing boats.

High efficiency does not need to come at the expense of durability, as GEA proves with the piston compressors of the semi-hermetic series GEA Bock HG44e and GEA Bock F16.

The F-series includes open, single-stage compressors with 2, 4 or 6 cylinders that are designed for common synthetic refrigerants (e.g. R134a, R404A, R507, R407C, R22). The maximum displacement volumes are 12,6 to 214,1 m³/h (1.740 1/min). They are optionally driven directly via a coupling or with a V-belt. Due to the high-volume oil sump as well as the reliable oil pump independent of rotating direction, the use in a wide speed range is possible. A stable drive, the successful mass compensation and the low pulsation contributes to the robustness and calm operation. The F-series runs without any problems even at short-term inclinations of up to 30° in both axes, making it perfect for marine use.

GEA Piston compressors HG44e/770-4 S

The semi-hermetic piston compressors HG44e represent a broadly set-up series of suction gas cooled compressors with maximum displacement volumes from about 6,5 to 337,5 m³/h (at 60 Hz). Therefore the series cover the whole refrigeration and air conditioning requirements on ships, from cabin cooling to provision cooling. The optimized semi-hermetic compressors benefit from a cutting-edge valve plate system, highly efficient electrical motors and an improved gas flow as compared to the predecessors.