ABB and B&R Bring Joint Automation Technologies for Brewery and Beverage to Drinktec 2025

Summary

MUNICH, Germany, Sept. 4, 2025 –  ABB and its machine and factory automation business, B&R Industrial Automation, will exhibit brewery and beverage technologies together at drinktec 2025, the world economic summit for the beverage and liquid food industry. The event, running Sept. 15-19 at the Trade Fair Center Messe in Munich, Germany, will give visitors a chance to see how ABB technologies combine to optimize operations across the full production cycle.

Spanning process control, adaptive manufacturing and digital optimization, ABB and B&R solutions can be combined into a single, interoperable platform to support safer operations, improve quality control and reduce resource utilization. This approach increases flexibility and accelerates innovation across beverage and brewing operations while demonstrating how integrated automation solutions can help industry producers become leaner and cleaner to outperform and outrun.

Visitors to Booth 472/480, located in Hall C5, will experience how ABB and B&R enable breweries and beverage producers to optimize operations, from converting raw material to final product and to filling and packaging lines, inclusive of utilities, using one smart automation ecosystem. Highlights will include the ABB Ability BeerMaker, built on the ABB Ability System 800xA® distributed control system (DCS) and B&R’s adaptive automation for packaging and line flexibility. 

BeerMaker is a modular solution specifically designed to optimize the brewing process. It helps brewers to safely produce the best beer and scale production, all while reducing energy and water usage, boosting reliability and streamlining configuration. The solution’s unveiling at the event coincides with the technology’s deployment and the expansion of a current System 800xA installation in an existing brewery in South America belonging to one of the leading global breweries. The project will be executed by a specialized system integrator with decades of experience in the brewing industry.  

“We’re showing how ABB and B&R together can cover the full spectrum of brewery automation,” said Marcello Gulinelli, global head of Food & Beverage at ABB’s Process Industries division. “We are united and committed in helping food and beverage producers outrun–leaner and cleaner. For the first time at drinktec, end users, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and system integrators in the beverage industry will see how our interoperable systems support the entire value chain, from brewing to bottling, under one automation and digital umbrella.”

Live demonstrations such as the ABB Technology Experience: Mechanical Engineering & Industry (ATEMI) exhibit will showcase interoperability in action. ATEMI brings together drive, control, safety and vision technologies in a compact setup with an interactive display comprised of an electrification cell and circuit breakers, drives, visualization and grippers. Visitors will be able to operate this via joystick, seeing first-hand how various ABB components connect to work together seamlessly. 

Alongside ABB, B&R will showcase how OEMs can design highly competitive machines, achieving exceptional productivity and precision with the B&R scalable automation solution. Its adaptive portfolio includes ACOPOStrak and ACOPOS 6D, the flexible track system and magnetically levitating shuttles transforming adaptive manufacturing, as well as robotics. These future-proof solutions built on interoperability, digitalization, IIoT and smart service allow producers to master personalization and stock keeping unit (SKU) proliferation through rapid changeovers and a reduced machine footprint. 

“The beverage market has never been more dynamic,” said Wlady Martino, B&R Global Industry Segment Manager for Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG). “Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our ABB colleagues, together, we provide the definitive answer to today's challenges. We are shaping the future by focusing on what matters most to producers: agile automation for rapid changeovers and SKU variety, productive systems that maximize throughput and efficiency, and intelligent solutions that turn data into a real competitive advantage.” 

The exhibition between ABB and B&R on these integrated solutions will also introduce Modular Type Package (MTP) concepts to the brewing industry, improving engineering efficiency and integration speed. Additional digital enablers on display will include Energy Management Systems (EMS), Advanced Process Control (APC), Knowledge Manager and Connected Workforce. These have endless potential to support a more responsive, sustainable and data-driven beverage production model, one that focuses on safety, quality and sustainability without losing control of productivity, reliability and flexibility. 

About ABB

ABB is a global technology leader in electrification and automation, enabling a more sustainable and resource-efficient future. By connecting its engineering and digitalization expertise, ABB helps industries run at high performance, while becoming more efficient, productive and sustainable so they outperform. At ABB, we call this "Engineered to Outrun." The company has over 140 years of history and around 110,000 employees worldwide. ABB’s shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ABBN) and Nasdaq Stockholm (ABB). 

About ABB's Process Automation business

ABB’s Process Automation business automates, electrifies and digitalizes industrial operations that address a wide range of essential needs–from supplying energy, water and materials, to producing goods and transporting them to market. With its ~20,000 employees, leading technology and service expertise, ABB Process Automation helps process, hybrid and maritime industries outrun–leaner and cleaner.

About B&R

B&R, a division of ABB Group, is a global leader in industrial automation headquartered in Austria. B&R combines state-of-the-art technology with advanced engineering to provide customers in virtually every industry with complete solutions for machine and factory automation, motion control, HMI and integrated safety technology. With Industrial IoT communication standards including OPC UA, POWERLINK and openSAFETY as well as its Automation Studio software, B&R is constantly redefining the future of automation engineering. The innovative spirit that keeps B&R at the forefront of industrial automation is driven by a commitment to simplifying processes and exceeding customer expectations.