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In PractIce
Modernisation of a complete soft-drinks plant and conversion to the latest level of
process and IT technology at Coca-Cola in Vienna – without stopping production!
at the highest level
Process automation, visualisation and batch tracking
Myths are interesting because they have
a dark aura which hides the real truth. the
recipe for coca-cola is regarded as such a
myth. It is said to be one of the world‘s bestkept
secrets known and, according to the legend,
is kept in a dark safe. Only two persons
are said to know the precise composition of
coca-cola.
It is known that coca-cola was originally
made from wine, cola nuts and cocaine
leaves, but today‘s recipe is nothing like this.
The main flavour is provided by vanilla and by
For coca-cola HBc, Vienna, the most modern syrup room
in europe was constructed, in which the production of foodstuffs
can be traced back in accordance with ec Directives.
orange, lemon and cinnamon oils. the sharp
taste comes from phosphoric acid and the
sweetness is provided by common sugar. all
production facilities throughout the world use
the same substances, and all of these – such
as water or sugar – must be processed in the
same manner. this is regulated very strictly.
Market reality
In the face of stiff competition in production,
the truth is easy to see. there is an ever-increasing
pressure to reduce costs and improve
performance, and globalisation is also increasing.
this affects the food and beverages industry
even more than in the past and they
must optimise their production processes with
the aid of modern, integrated data-processing
solutions. Information technology is becoming
increasingly important, displaying the classical
processes and methods. today, it is indispensable
in a modern production facility.
this also applies to the world‘s largest manufacturer
of soft drinks coca-cola HBc, with
large production facilities in austria. after
the complete automation of these facilities, a
solution from Van der Molen now permits the
traceability of foodstuffs (in accordance with
ec Directive 178/2002), resulting in the most
modern syrup room in europe.

The special challenge presented by this project was the combination of the following
requirements:
•
•
•
•
the combination of existing components from two locations and the integration of new
components,
the implementation of fully automated plant operation,
the visualisation and trackability of all production processes and, above all
doing this without interrupting normal production.
In spite of the difficult prerequisites and
various unforeseeable problems, this unique
project was completed on time and without
Fail-safe network
the plant components are connected together
with bus systems – Profibus and
aS-I. at a higher level, there is an industrial
ethernet, which connects the main controller,
the visualisation system, the archiving
computer and a remote-control facility
together. all network components are supplied
by an uninterruptible power supply
in order to save the process status in the
case of a power failure. the CIP (cleaning
In Place) process, which is powered by two
separate circuits, is protected against failure
by means of comprehensive hardware and
software interrogation between it and the
production process.
One cannot imagine modern production facilities today
without information technology. Picture: example of a
visualisation system.
exceeding the planned costs. We are thus
extremely satisfied with the execution of the
project.»
Recording ensure transparency
all operating and fault messages generated by
the control processes are recorded, evaluated
and also saved electronically for later tracking
by the visualisation system. In addition,
all current data and actions of the automatic
programs are also recorded. the recorded
data can be displayed at any time and can be
archived on external data media in a manner
which prevents subsequent manipulation.
Due to the extreme complexity of the plant,
manual operation and monitoring was no
longer possible. However, the complete automation
of all actions ensures a high level of
production safety in the entire syrup-production
process.
YOUR CONTACT
Michael.Singer@van-der-molen.com
+ 49 82 33 79 27 40
Mixing tank with fully automatic valve block
Double-seat valves offer the highest product
safety at present. In this example they are
installed directly in the conical base.

Dipl.-Ing. Werner Schultheiss, project
manager at Coca-Cola HBC in Vienna,
summarises the project as follows:
Conversion at the height of the season
the task was extremely demanding. two
existing syrup rooms and plant components
from another location were combined to
form the new syrup room, and new components
were added (see the box on the previous
page). the changing of the syrup paths,
which was previously done manually, was replaced
by a highly automated process which
permits the entire work to be done by only
two persons per shift.
Work started in March 2006 and was executed
in eleven phases over a period of five
months. the components were moved, connected
together by pipes, cables and a network
and returned to operation.
a remarkable thing is that all of this was
achieved without stopping the production,
although the final phases were executed in
the summer, when the demand for soft drinks
is at its peak and the full capacity of the plant
is needed.
«the conversion and reconnection of the lines
was carried out without interrupting normal
production. all of our employees say that the
solution provided by Van der Molen is very
clear and easy to operate and have fully accepted
it. nobody wants to go back to the old
system! In addition, the use of double-seat
valves optimised our product safety.
Modern control technology
the ability to operate the entire plant fully
automatically was achieved by the integration
of eleven fully automated valve blocks
with double-seat valves. the manual distribution
panels which were previously used
were removed. Double-seat valves currently
offer the highest possible product safety. In
addition, the lack of space made it necessary
to equip the filling lines for the mixing
tanks with double-seat valves in their bases.
to save space, they were installed directly in
the conical base of each tank.
the individual Siemens PLc controller modules
for the components were replaced by a
single, central controller of the latest type S7.
the system is operated from three central Pcs.
nevertheless, it is still possible to control processes
such as filling of the silos or selection
of the concentrate feed locally with the aid
of industrial Pcs. all control processes were
linked to a visualisation system, which is also
integrated, permitting the control, monitoring
and tracking of all processes to be done
centrally with the aid of menus.

Van der Molen GmbH
Industriestraße 34 a
D - 86438 Kissing
P + 49 8233 7927-0
F + 49 8233 20847
www.van-der-molen.com
vdm@van-der-molen.com
THE SYSTEM COMPONENTS
For Coca-Cola, two existing syrup rooms, plant components from another location
and new systems were combined to construct the most modern syrup room in Europe.
the system components are:
• three sugar silos
• all components from the existing syrup rooms
• two continuous sugar-dissolving units CONTIMOL
• two dosing systems MASSMOL
• a continuous dosing and mixing system MASSMOL C
developed specially for coca-cola
• two syrup pasteurisation units
• one pasteurisation unit for the finished product
• a large number of tanks, including 15 mixing tanks
• two concentrate stations with pumps
VAN DER MOLEN AT A GLANCE
„From the source to the finished product“ is our challenge in the food and beverages sector – even with varying water
qualities. We offer many solutions for the treatment of process and production water, for the actual production of food and
beverages, for treatment of waste water and recycling + all water treatment technologies such as neutralisation and removal
of contamination, up to and including biological methods.