The robots at Alita are among the most advanced in the world, but the wheat ear is put into the bottle by hand

Entered MV Group Production a decade ago

As Algirdas Čiburys, general director of MV Group Production, said at the presentation of the robotization project of “Alitas” production and packaging lines, this city company is one of the oldest in Alytus, its history began 60 years ago, and ten years ago the factory started a new phase in the family of the aforementioned group.

“MV Group Production” also manages “Stumbra” in Kaunas, “Anykščiai výna” and “Gubernija” in Šiauliai.
The fact that Alita is one of the largest beverage producers in the country is evidenced by the specific figures provided by its representatives. For example, 20 million were produced here last year. liters of production, it is bottled in 44 mln. bottles. Nine categories of drinks are produced here, about 20 percent. its products are exported. It is estimated that the production volume of “Alita” has increased by 70% in a decade.

Therefore, according to the general director of MV Group Production A. Čiburis, today Alita works in such a way that energy and ideas should not run out for at least another 60 years.

Robotization project – for almost 2 million. euros

The robotization project of Alito’s production and packaging lines was funded by MV Group Production and cost almost 2 million. euros.

As Vitalijus Aksiutins, the production director of the factory, claimed in the presentation of this project, after the implementation of the robotization project, not only more production is produced, the production process became more efficient, but also the heavy manual work, which was unattractive here, was abandoned.

This makes it possible to produce about 800 pallets or 300,000 pallets per shift. units of drinks. Production speed increased by 18.9%, saving about 50%. various packaging materials.
During the implementation of this project, the factory was equipped with automatic palletizing, automatic wrapping with film, the same labeling equipment, and an automatic conveyor system for label content IT management and pallet flow management was installed.

The robotization of the production lines was entrusted to the Dutch company “Qimarox” and the specialists of the Lithuanian engineering solutions company “Inna”.

Qimarox production manager Jelle Deelman noted that this is the first such robotization project implemented in Lithuania and the Baltic region. And it meets the standards currently used by the most advanced beverage industry companies in the world.

And yet, what failed to be roboticized in the production of Alita? After all, the ripened ear of wheat is put into the bottle for the strong white drink… by hand. Bottles arrive on the line and workers place these bells into them. As the employees of “Alitas” explained, specially treated wheat ears are brought from one farm, and they are specially processed at the factory before being bottled.
So not all jobs can be done by robots, no matter how “smart” they are.

And what is the task for “Alita” for the next decade? A. Čiburys, general director of MV Group production, called it concrete – a company with Lithuanian capital known not only in the country must become an attractive leader at the global level.

Nerijus Cesiulis, the mayor of the city of Alytus, who participated in the presentation of the robotization project, said that the factory is far from being known only in Lithuania, stating: “As far as I talk with partners from abroad, they all know “Alita”.

Currently, the factory has 169 employees.