PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2020

PACKAGING / PALLETISING PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 10/20 www.petpla.net 46 Optimised end of line packaging process Co-packing at its best Refresco Finland Oy is the leading bottling factory in Finland for co-packing juices, soft drinks, water, energy drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages for private labels - in addition to a wide range of products under its own brand. To automate and optimise the production process and respond to their customers’ requests for personalised “packaging” solutions while maintaining market trends, the Finnish company decided to invest in the purchase of a latest generation automatic packer CSK 50P Ergon supplied by SMI. Refresco Finland Oy from Kuopio is part of the Dutch multinational Refresco Group (the largest inde- pendent bottler in the world), which produces and sells a wide variety of private labels and offers its experi- ence and professionalism within the industrial sector in Europe, North America and Mexico. In addition to managing the entire production chain, the Finnish company offers lots of ser- vices to the “private label” companies with which it works, from developing an idea to its implementation, from the development of the product to its bottling and packaging, from storage to logistics. At the same time, it keeps abreast of innovations in terms of products, packaging and scale, allow- ing the continual growth of its portfolio of products and the development of new systems to improve the produc- tion process in terms of offer quality, reduction of costs, energy savings and environmental safeguarding. In addition to the wide range of products produced for third parties, Refresco Finland Oy markets a wide range of its own brand. Made to measure solutions Refresco Finland includes a wide variety of customers and supplies bespoke solutions, able to satisfy not only global retailers but also private brand customers. Thanks to these ongoing collaborations, the bottler is able to put new products on the market in a very short time, to help its customers face new market chal- lenges, respond to change and mod- ernise continually. Thanks to the high technology of its plants, the variety of “packaging” solutions available, to the quality control system, which meets the highest national and interna- tional standards, and a structure that is strongly inclined towards “project development”, Refresco Finland Oy sees itself as the ideal partner for every industrial operator within the food & beverage sector who wishes to update the image of their products. The Finnish company has gained considerable experience in trans- forming the needs and requests of its customers with high quality propos- als, guaranteeing the achievement of the objectives within budget and lead times. The food products that are produced in their plants are sold in a wide, diverse range of formats: PET, glass, can, brik and pouch. The innovative method for sterile bot- tling, for which the Refresco Group is well-known, is claimed to guarantee that the product has a long shelf-life, without compromising the quality of its food properties, in terms of authentic- ity, reliability and conservation. Compact wrapper The choice for the installation of a new, compact wrapper fell to the CSK range from SMI. For Refresco Finland Oy it seemed to be the most suit- able choice to automate and optimise the end of line, secondary, packag- ing process as the range of these cutting-edge technology machines are claimed to stand out for their advanced automation, flexibility of use, low energy costs and respect for the environment. The CSK 50P Ergon installed at the factory in Kuopio, packs different types of bottles in PET in numerous pack formats in pad+film and film only. The CSK Ergon range includes single and twin lane models, with a compact and ergonomic design. Maximum speed for shrink wrapping is 50 packs/ F.l.t.r.: Ilpo Metso, Manager for Devel- opment Refresco; Carl B. Armstrong, F.A.T. Engineer SMI; Sami Kokkonen, Manager for Development Refresco