Craft Beer Can Coding with Hitachi CIJ | Camba Bavaria
How Camba Bavaria Ensures Flexible, Clean Can Coding with Hitachi CIJ
Craft Beer Meets Industrial Efficiency
As the craft beer movement grows, breweries are expected to produce a wider range of products in smaller batches—without compromising on quality, speed, or compliance. This presents unique operational challenges, especially when it comes to coding and marking cans in a fast, clean, and cost-effective way.
Camba Bavaria, a highly innovative brewery based in Gundelfingen and Seeon-Seebruck am Chiemsee (Germany), is a pioneer in solving this challenge. Alongside brewing its own award-winning beers, Camba supports hundreds of small-scale craft brewers by offering full-service production infrastructure, including filling, packaging, and marking.
To meet growing demand and support a wide variety of product types, Camba relies on a Hitachi Continuous Inkjet (CIJ) printer, integrated by MFG Technik & Service GmbH—a trusted expert in coding systems.
Challenge: High-Speed Coding for a Fast-Moving Industry
In summer 2017, Camba installed a modern can filling line capable of processing 3,000 beverage cans per hour. This performance upgrade created a need for a coding system that could keep up—not just in terms of speed, but also adaptability.
What made the challenge complex:
- Frequent product changeovers and short runs
- Moisture and condensation in brewery environments
- Craft-style packaging with high design standards
- Legal traceability and batch coding requirements
- Limited space and need for hygienic integration
The ideal solution had to be robust, flexible, and easy to maintain—ready for high turnover and diverse use cases in a real brewery environment.
Solution: Hitachi CIJ Printer – Built for Breweries
The Hitachi Continuous Inkjet Printer used at Camba Bavaria offers the perfect mix of technical performance, user-friendliness, and hygienic design—tailored for the food and beverage industry.
It handles various substrates and designs while ensuring clean, accurate, and legible coding. Designed for 24/7 operation, it’s a powerful match for Camba’s flexible, customer-driven production.
Why this system works for Camba:
- Durable stainless steel housing, resistant to moisture and splashes
- Dust- and water-protected printhead with auto-cleaning routine
- Fast-drying ink system prevents smudging, even on cold or damp cans
- Tool-free cartridge change and optimized ink circulation for cost efficiency
- Simple, intuitive 10.4" touchscreen interface for quick message switching
Hitachi’s CIJ solution enables non-contact, high-speed coding that integrates seamlessly with Camba’s filling line—without slowing down or compromising hygiene.
Why It Matters for the Craft Beer Industry
The success at Camba Bavaria reflects a broader shift in the beverage market: modern craft breweries require industrial-grade performance without losing artisanal flexibility.
Hitachi’s CIJ technology helps breweries:
- Code cans and bottles at high speed with no compromise in quality
- Maintain clean, traceable production under EU food safety standards
- Support private label and small-batch contracts with quick changeovers
- Reduce operational costs, waste, and error risks
Whether you’re a full-service producer or a growing microbrewery, the right marking system is essential—not just for labeling, but for long-term scalability and trust.
