Recently, all faculty and students from the Brewing Engineering (China–New Zealand) program under the School of Biological Engineering at Qilu University of Technology visited Heguan Group for an on-site tour, study session, and technical exchange. As a domestic manufacturer specializing in beer bio-fermentation equipment, Heguan Group fully opened its newly built pilot-scale R&D workshop and tasting exhibition hall to the visiting university team. This marks a key step forward in the Group’s integrated industrial layout of “equipment manufacturing + R&D validation + experience and exchange.”
During the symposium and discussion session, Mr. Shi, the Group’s principal representative, systematically introduced Heguan Group’s development history, core product portfolio, and industry application achievements. He also highlighted the positioning and purpose of the newly completed pilot-scale space. Mr. Shi explained that the pilot workshop is designed to fill the validation gap between fermentation equipment design/R&D and large-scale mass production. It can serve as a real-world testing platform for industry clients—supporting recipe tuning and process adaptation—while also providing universities with an industry-close environment for research and hands-on talent training. This pilot-scale facility is a core part of Heguan’s strategy to strengthen its technical service capabilities.
Afterward, the faculty and student group visited Heguan’s manufacturing workshop and the new pilot-scale space. In the production area, visitors gained a direct understanding of machining processes for large fermentation equipment, quality control workflows, and intelligent manufacturing standards—forming a concrete picture of the end-to-end production system from raw material processing to final product delivery. The highlight of the visit—the newly built pilot-scale R&D workshop and tasting exhibition hall—allowed the group to experience Heguan’s ability to integrate research and production into real industrial implementation. The space is equipped with a complete micro craft-brewing line, a professional tasting area, and a technical display area. It can simulate the full workflow from small-scale recipe verification to pilot-scale process scale-up, while also supporting industry exchanges, customer experiences, and achievement showcases. The visiting group engaged in in-depth discussions with Heguan’s technical team on fermentation processes, equipment performance, and flavor control, and highly praised the professional configuration and brewing outcomes of the pilot-scale workshop. Heguan also arranged a working lunch for the visitors, continuing technical and industry discussions in a relaxed atmosphere.
As a key institution in China’s brewing engineering field, Qilu University of Technology has strong foundations in fermentation technology research and professional talent development. This visit and exchange served both as a practical teaching component bringing university training into frontline industry, and as a foundation for Heguan Group to deepen industry–education integration and build a collaborative industry–university–research platform. Both parties stated that, in the future, they can rely on Heguan’s pilot workshop as a physical platform to develop diverse cooperation in internships, technical problem-solving, and achievement commercialization—jointly promoting technological upgrading in the beer fermentation industry.
At the end of the event, all participants took a group photo in front of the Group’s factory area. The completion and commissioning of the pilot-scale R&D workshop and tasting exhibition hall is an important initiative for Heguan Group to improve its industrial ecosystem and enhance comprehensive service capabilities. Looking ahead, Heguan will continue to focus on bio-fermentation equipment, using technological innovation as the core and industry–education integration as a key approach—continuously strengthening R&D and manufacturing capabilities, providing more complete equipment solutions and technical support to industry clients and partners, and contributing to the high-quality development of China’s beer fermentation industry.
