Siemens Frugal Bottle Assembly Machine 2 (FBAM-2)

Siemens partnered with British sustainable packaging company Frugalpac to develop FBAM-2, a new high-speed machine for the manufacture of paper Frugal Bottles; the world’s only commercially available paper bottle for wines, spirits and edible oils.

Frugalpac's small automation team alongside Underwood and Technique's lack of linear track system experience created significant skills gaps. We addressed this through structured training, developing a repeatable support model that democratises access to technology.

FBAM-2 manufactures 14 million Frugal Bottles a year, boosting capacity by five times while cutting costs up to 30%, making Frugal Bottles the same price or cheaper than labelled glass bottles for the first time. Siemens' OEM and applications engineering teams worked alongside external partners Underwoods Electrical Distributors and Technique Services, while Siemens Financial Services and our HQ development and training teams also played fundamental roles in delivering FBAM-2.

FBAM-2 marks a step change for the global drinks industry and its accelerating demand for lower-carbon packaging. This transformational technology facilitates the large-scale adoption of Frugal Bottles, multi-market rollouts and integration into existing bottling operations.