FrieslandCampina Thailand, a branch of the FrieslandCampina company, the world’s largest dairy co-operative and one of the top five dairy companies in the world, produces more than 300 million tons of milk per year with their popular brand Foremost, bottled in cans and in PEHD containers.
Having launched a newly shaped PEHD bottle, which is running on a dedicated production line, the customer was looking for the most efficient and cost-effective end-of-line solution, critical to keeping their total cost of ownership (TCO) as low as possible.
Renewing their confidence in Gebo Cermex was the natural choice, due to the long-lasting business relationship between the two companies and the positive experience FrieslandCampina Thailand has had with a wrap-around packer installed at the plant ten years ago – still running as part of a can line. The driving factors behind the purchasing decision was the line engineering and material handling expertise shown by the team at Gebo Cermex during the pre-contracting phase – instrumental in determining the best technical solution and layout to suit the customer’s objectives – and the extremely structured and professional approach to commissioning. The latter one allowed for a “Plug & Play” installation and a vertical ramp-up (within a week) in Friesland’s Samrong site in Thailand.
A wrap-around case packer machine, together with a bottle line divider at packer infeed and the conveyors connecting the solution to the production line – both upstream and downstream - have been installed on the Samrong site, ensuring a speed of more than 500+ shaped bottles per minute (equal to 24 cases/min). FrieslandCampina met the goal of delivering products with a longer shelf life compared with the past ones, while reducing secondary packaging costs by more than 30% compared to a traditional “Regular Slot Cases” (RSC) solution.
The FrieslandCampina Thailand case clearly demonstrates that the 360° approach applied by Gebo Cermex to wrap-around mechanization is the right direction to go. Gentle primary packaging handling, extended secondary packaging knowledge and large mechanization expertise allow the company to play a leading role in this field, as shown by the key-selling, top-performing WB46 – the latest addition to the wrap-around case packer portfolio.
