Case study - Vepo Cheese (Dairy Products)
Quote from the customer: „SOMIC asked an awful lot of detailed questions beforehand. The exact box sizes, the cardboard used, which films we use, the other machines in the line, et cetera. In short, we had the feeling that we were dealing with a supplier who could unburden us and who had experience with our product.
Vepo Cheese in Oudewater specialises in the processing and packaging of grated cheese. In order to save costs, the company has automated the final packaging with two SOMIC case packers. Technical operations manager Hugo van Put looks back on a well-prepared and successful installation and automation.
Cheddar, Emmental, Gouda cheese, Edam and Mozzarella. The number of different types of cheese that Vepo Cheese processes into cheese slices or grated cheese is large. The company, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, processes these types of cheese in its factories in Bodegraven and Oudewater. The factory in Oudewater processes many types of specialities.
Until recently, the packaging of the bags of grated cheese was a lot of manual work. Technical operations manager Hugo van Put was given the task of automating the final packaging. We had three packaging lines where two people per line spent the entire day putting bags into boxes. Labour-intensive work. Automation saves temporary workers and costs.
SOMIC ReadyPack with compact footprint
However, the space in the packaging department is limited. Van Put was therefore looking for a packaging line with a small footprint. He knew SOMIC from his previous job at Refresco and contacted them. The ReadyPack machine that SOMIC proposed appealed immediately. Other machine suppliers came up with solutions with all kinds of extra bells and whistles.
Van Put was also impressed by the thorough approach in the preliminary process. SOMIC asked an awful lot of detailed questions beforehand. The exact box sizes, the cardboard used, which films we use, the other machines in the line, et cetera. In short, we had the feeling that we were dealing with a supplier who could unburden us and who had experience with our product.
A good inventory is the beginning of a successful process', agrees Jan-Willem Cornelisse of SOMIC. And we have indeed supplied a lot of cheese packaging machines.
Positive product handling
The SOMIC ReadyPack case packer works according to the principle of positive product handling. This means that after grouping the products, the machine forms a tray or wrap around box around the products.
Vepo Cheese packs its cheese bags in a wrap around box. A supply belt transports the bags with grated cheese to the case packer, which then places them in a servo-controlled slat chain. After this, a sliding arm pushes the bags in the casette onto the plano, which compresses them. The plano then folds precisely on the grooves and around the product.
The metal plates provide internal counter-pressure when folding the plano, so that a straight and identical box always comes out of the machine,' explains Cornelisse. 'So that you can palletise properly.'
Grated cheese is sensitive to mould. That's why Vepo Cheese fogs its cheese with a nitrogen/CO2 mixture during the packaging process. The right balance between gas and the quantity of cheese is essential to guarantee a shelf life of several months.
Too much gas results in bulging bags that can cause problems during repackaging,' explains Cornelisse. In an upright pack, the grated cheese can sink to the bottom. The bag will, as it were, bulge out and then fit less well in the box. That is why it is important to deliver the bags evenly and to transport them carefully, despite the high speed of 75+ bags per minute.
Good product handling in the machine is very important', Hugo van Put adds. Because microperforations can result in mould formation. A test on a SOMIC demo-machine in Germany gave us confidence that the product handling is in order.
Preparation for machine installation
Van Put shows a film on his mobile phone of an employee sliding a large piece of cardboard across the production floor. The cardboard has to represent the perimeter of the SOMIC machine.
It is a one-to-one 2D replica that was pushed through the Vepo factory to check whether the SOMIC case packers could really be moved to their place and no walls had to be knocked out, for example.
It is an example of how detailed the preparation of the installation was. This good preparation ensured that there were no surprises during the installation for either party. SOMIC had mapped out all the parameters for the machine in detail and Vepo Cheese made sure the factory was optimally prepared for the installation of the machines.
During the virtual Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) in Germany, all essential functions were demonstrated.
Installation of the new SOMIC machines
The installation took just one day. A team of Vepo technicians was ready to assist the SOMIC Benelux mechanics on Monday and the first boxes rolled off the conveyor belt on Tuesday morning. The rest of the week was used to train the operators and the Site Acceptance Test (SAT) took place on Friday. Since then, the machines have run without any problems', concludes Hugo van Put. The good coordination between us beforehand relieved us of the burden in the final stage.
