Packaging line potential boosts aseptic production
“Initially, the customer favoured a special line design with some room for optimisation in the production set-up owing to the space l constraints at the plant. Therefore, we suggested Inex divide the production between two buildings,” says Sébastien Sergues, Business Development Manager for Food category at Sidel. As a result, production flow on the new PET line was distributed between a plant dedicated to bottling and labelling and a warehouse designed for palletising, pallet wrapping and shipment management, with packs conveyed between the two locations. The complete PET packaging line is entirely manufactured by Sidel with an optimised End-of-Line solution.
Production starts ahead of schedule to meet extra demand for milk
Commercial production on the aseptic line was originally scheduled to start mid-March. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the demand for milk from the local market increased rapidly and the company needed to produce the extra volume. Thanks to close cooperation between the Inex and Sidel teams, production was able to start three weeks in advance. Steven Dierickx recalls: “Fast line ramp-up ahead of schedule meant we could manage an increase in production. This was only possible because of the great support we received from Sidel’s experts either on-site or remotely. We also jointly found a solution to increase the number of shifts from two to three.”
The new aseptic PET packaging line is highly efficient and Inex has received intensive operational training to manage it. The line also opens future opportunities for high production flexibility to handle various formats and an alternative packaging method for other products, such as cream, to be packed in PET bottles.
“Last October, Queen Mathilde of Belgium visited the Inex plant to learn more about local sustainable food production. She showed a lot of interest in the subject and expressed her appreciation for our employees. We are really proud of her interest and feedback”, concludes Steven Dierickx.
www.sidel.com www.inex.be
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