World

GLOBALLY, improving plant performance to make production as efficient as possible and ensure long-term presence in the market is of paramount concern for filling companies. For a filling line speed, output and efficiency are the criteria on which food companies are increasingly focusing. In March, SIG Combibloc unveiled aseptic carton-filling machines which fill 24,000 carton packs per hour, making these new high-speed filling machines the fastest in the world for small-size carton packages from 125 to 350 ml. Consequently, for food manufacturers the machine capacity of 24,000 carton packs an hour means a reduction in operating costs, service costs and investment costs per 1.000 units installed capacity. With servo drives and six tracks instead of the previous four, the new high-speed aseptic fillers, CFA 124 and CFA 724 (shown here), are more efficient than ever ?requiring almost the same space and manpower as the previous models. Combining speed with an unmatched level of volume flexibility, the CFA 124 for combiblocMini can fill 125, 150, 200 and 250 ml carton packs. The enhanced range of the CFA 724 for combiblocSmall means it can fill a total of six different volumes: 150, 200, 250, 300, 330 and 350 ml. The high-speed filling machines can be adjusted to the required capacity in just a few simple steps and set to the new volume using a touch-screen monitor. This level of volume flexibility on a single machine at this high speed is a world first, enabling food manufacturers to position products to appeal to very specific target groups while at the same time keeping production unbeatably efficient. SIG Combibloc worked with two major dairy operators in Asia to fine tune these latest fillers. The first CFA 124 for combiblocMini is in operation at Friesland Foods Foremost in Thailand, while China's Mongolia Mengniu Dairy Industry is piloting the CFA 724 for combiblocSmall. Strategic partner doubles output Friesland Foods Foremost (Thailand) PCL specializes in the production and sale of long-life dairy products and has been active in Thailand for 45 years. The company is part of the company Royal Friesland Foods Group founded in 1894 as a dairy cooperative. Today, this long-established group of companies has more than 70 branches in 27 countries. Foremost started working with SIG Combibloc in 2001, when SIG Combibloc's filling machines enabled the company to increase its filling capacity from 7,500 to 12,000 carton packs per hour. Twelve of these SIG Combibloc filling machines are currently in operation at Foremost. With the CFA 124 for combiblocMini, the output of a single machine has now been doubled, and the company plans to replace all its current filling machines with the new models. With almost the same number of operating personnel, virtually the same space requirement, and just one downstream for each filling machine, the new high-speed machines have doubled output just as if the working day was 48 hours long. "The new CFA 124 will help to increase our filling capability. This is part of our expansion strategy, and an important step for the future growth of our company. This is the reason for choosing SIG Combibloc to help us make our strategy a success. For us SIG Combibloc is more than just a supplier ?it is an important strategic partner," said Ian Gearing, managing director of Friesland Foods Foremost, Thailand. Clear advantage for Chinese dairy giant In just nine years, Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy Industry (Group) Co., Ltd has grown from a small regional provider in Inner Mongolia to one of China's biggest dairy groups. Today Mengniu has more than 20 production facilities in 15 provinces in China with a portfolio of more than 100 products. "Mengniu was founded in 1999, so we are a very young company. And we are in the happy position of being able to profit from the widespread expansion of the dairy industrNike Air Max 90 Candy Drip