BOTTLING / FILLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 23 No. 03/22 www.petpla.net 22 After a terrible fi re: Serbian milk producer Imlek relies on an up-to-the-minute block system from KHS Phoenix from the ashes In 2018, a huge fire caused severerebuilt damage to Serbian milk producer Imlek’s production site. One of the many items destroyed was a KHS aseptic filler, just six years old. When it came to procuring a replacement, the company again opted for the German systems supplier – and for a block system featuring the latest in stretch blow moulding technology. neighbouring countries of Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia. Further sales markets include Croatia, Albania, Slovenia and Russia. The diary giant was the very first in the Balkans to invest in an aseptic filler in 2012 in order to enable germfree filling of a section of its portfolio into PET bottles. Its prime aim was to facilitate the export of sensitive products by lengthening shelf lives and lowering transportation weights. Back then Imlek decided to invest in a linear KHS Asbofill ABF 711 filler, as with its very small aseptic zone this machinery permits sterile filling without the need for intermediate sterilisation. Focus on flexibility With its vast product range, fast format changeovers are important for Imlek so that it can react with the utmost flexibility during production, where extended shelf life (ESL) and ultra-heat-treated (UHT) milk products are bottled alternately. ESL milk keeps up to four weeks longer than standard bottled milk, for example, with unopened UHT products staying fresh for as long as three to six months. Short, trouble-free product changeovers for the many different smaller product batches in particular give the company greater flexibility, safety and speed over the use of cartons, for instance. Regarding flexibility, the Asbofill ABF 711 provides a vast range of bottle and closure design options, the use of which requires no mechanical intervention. One of the aseptic filler’s special features is its small sanitary room that measures just 1.5m3: in combination with the machine’s room-within-a-room concept, it cuts the risk of recontamination down to practically zero, says KHS. Limiting sterilisation to the necessary areas only – namely just the neck on the outside of the bottle – means that sterilisation media can be used more sparingly. Thanks to its compact design the filler also takes up less space and is easier to clean. And as it needs no extra water during the production cycle, for example, it also scores on sustainability. Devastating fire and successful rebuild In September 2018, a devastating fire tore through Padinska Skela, destroying much of the production shop and causing serious damage to property. Like so many other lines and machines, the exemplary technology of the aseptic filler was consumed by the flames. “The end of 2018 and the whole of 2019 were an extremely challenging time for us,” remembers Darko Samardžija, chief supply officer of the Imlek Group. “To guarantee market supply with our products, we had to redirect our contracted milk quantities to our other plants in the region for further processing and to production sites outside the Imlek system. Here, we needed to make sure that all the dairies This low-fat, sugar- and lactose-free chocolate shake is one of the products in Imlek’s new protein range. Darko Samardžija, chief supply officer for the Imlek Group What is now the Imlek Group has its origins in a farmstead in Glogonjski Rit, a suburb of Belgrade, where in 1953 an artisan dairy farm was established. This transported between 3,000 and 5,000 l of milk a day from the farm’s 800 or so cows to the city’s markets, initially in metal churns loaded onto horse-drawn carts and tractors. Just four years later the company installed its first pasteurising and filling line. Its development then gathered pace: by 1963 the dairy was already producing over 20 million litres of milk a year. The 1970s were also marked by growth, with more and more dairies becoming part of the consortium. Since 1991, the company has been run as a stock corporation under the name of Imlek. It now fills over one million litres of milk a day, with its annual turnover amounting to around €300 million. This makes Imlek a market leader – also beyond the Serbian border in the
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