PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2010

REGIONAL MARKET REPORTS 15 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 12/10 www.petpla.net Despite the apparent problems faced by the com- pany Jean Marc Rostagno had invited PETplanet because he wanted to give a clear message to the market via PETplanet - a positive message to the many customers of APPE, who have always received the best products and the best service from the largest converter in France. the message is that the crisis is over now. Jean Marc Rostagno insisted that the scenario of plant closures and manpower reductions does not apply to APPE France, since the plants in Bierne and Beaune are profitable and should be extended rather than reduced. “We are growing the business despite the internal and external crises. Now we also have cash at our disposal to pay our patient suppliers.” Preform production in Bierne After this introductory explanation we turned our attention to APPE, the preform manufacturer in Bierne. La Seda acquired 7 preform plants and 1 recycling plant from Amcor Europe At APPE in Bierne we found: The production area covers 33,000m  2 , plus 870m 2 for offices. PET resin annual usage: 72,000t  Production of 2 billion preforms annually, moulded  on 19 injection moulding systems and 42 moulds (all  Husky) Workforce: 92 people  The plant supplies 50% of its output to French cus- tomers and 50% to Benelux and other European cus- tomers, and for virtually all brands – the largest being Coca-Cola, Colgate, Unilever, Refresco, etc. Filled products include CSDs and water, sensitive juices, even beer, wine and liquors, as well as detergents, edible oil and sauces, etc. April 29, 2010 Coca-Cola Enterprises in Bierne PET line at Coca-Cola, Bierne Coca-Cola beverage filling plants are prime destina- tions for those interested in PET packaging. Coca-Cola Enterprises operate 5 filling plants in France, one in Tou- louse, one in Marseille, two near Paris and one in Dun- kerque. Our visit was arranged by Jean-Marc Rostagno, Man- aging Director of APPE France. The APPE Bierne plant was built next door to the Coca-Cola plant, specifically to supply Coca-Cola with preforms. We met Philippe Lechantre , Supplier Development Manager. He guided us freely through the very modern and impressive factory, full of high-tech equipment. Philippe Lechantre’s responsibility is quality assurance of all incom- ing materials including PET preforms. He runs trials on RPET (APPE’s SuperCycle) to evaluate light weighting and neck changes. The weight of the 2.0l PET bottle (made from a 25% RPET blend) was successfully reduced from 45gto 41.5g. Philippe Lechantre commented, “Our head office in Brussels validates bottle design in principle. We adapt and optimise for our manufacturing conditions here in Bierne. It’s the same procedure when selecting equipment and suppliers.” In the very impressive Bierne plant we saw: 4 filling lines for cans each with 96,000cph. capacity  1 integrated PET line blowing/filling with 36,000bph  capacity at 1.5/2.0l 1 aseptic PET blocked blower/filler with 36,000bhp  capacity at 0.5l The “large” PET line, i.e for large for large bottles, is a Krones/KHS combination. The aseptic line was supplied by Krones. The plant was started in 1989 with one single can line. In 1990 three more canning lines were added. The so-called “large” PET line came early in 2000. The asep- tic blocked blower/filler line has been running for 3 years. Coca-Cola Bierne employs, during the winter, 352 people and 458 people during the summer. Following the French market trend, Coke’s CSD business is growing. Reg i ona l mar ke t repor t France part 5 - Issue 01/2011 Last Part: Retal France and Bericap France