INSIGHT: MANUEACTURING

Coca-Cola's new canning line toraise capacity by 20M casesBY RICK PENOROUSCoca-Cola Enterprises' (CCE's) Sidcup factoryin Kent will next month commission a newS14.3M line for the production of cannedproducts. It will raise the plant's capacity by afurther 20M cases a year.

The new line, which will replace an existingsquash line, has an extremely small footprint(just 1,500m'') and marks a continualprogramme of investment at the site, at whichproduction started in 1961. While making thewhole range of Coca-Cola and Schweppes softdrink brands, the site lays claim to being "theGB home of Powerade", according tooperations director Steve Adams.

Prior to the new line's start up, the siteemployed 370 staff working across sevenproduction lines producing in excess of 42Mcases of soft drink products a year. It has thelargest range of packaging types of any CCEplant in the UK, including cans, plastic andglass bottles. Around 120 articulated vehiclespass through the site each day.

The new turnkey line from KHS wiU initiallyproduce 1.50ml and 330nü cans, vnth plans tointroduce 500ml cans in future. It includes adepalletiser, filler, blender, tray shrink packerand single palletiser, which uses two Kukarobots for layer formation. It also has a GPIthird generation tvwistack board multipacker.

The line will feature several innovativefeatures. These include a non-destructiveonline automatic X-ray seam inspection devicefrom Sencon; online weight checks against thefiller head; air - replacing water - rinsing ofempty cans; and coding of cans prior to fillingOther novel features include a vision systemfor empty can inspection to remove out ofspecification cans prior to filling and seciming;and no can twists on the line, where cans aretraditionally inverted to check for seaming

failures or small micro leaks. Instead the newline will use an ultrasonic bath to excite theproduct to detect leaks. By removing the cantvnsts, changeover time is reduced. Also, thenumber of operator 'touch points' is reduced,which helps to reduce can dantage.

The installation has involved majorconstruction work to bring the area up to thelatest CCE specifications, including fiooring,tilirtg, drainage and lighting. The materialswarehouse will be increased from 1,300 palletlocations to 2,300 (20,0Q0m'̂ to 25,000m'̂ ).

The site was recently certified an approvedsupplier to the Olympics next year by theLondon Organising Conmiittee of the Olympicand Paralympic Games.

"To be here for 50 years, this site has had toimprove year-on-year," said Adams at an event

held at Sidcup site last month to celebrate theopening of CCE's fourth education centrethere. "But improvement to us is not just aboutbeing more competitive year-on-year, it's aboutdoing that in a sustainable way."

Over the past year the site has achieved zerowaste to lEindfill for the first time. It hasreduced its water ratio (the number of litresused per litre of product made) to 1.67. It hasalso worked vdth various organisations toimprove the local environment.

Other targets set for the new line include areduction of 610t of carbon dioxide by 2012,with 630t and then 700t set for subsequentyears; water and energy reductions of 20%compared vnth existing canning lines; and areduction in chiUing requirements due toambient fiüng (21°C).

Multimillion pound automation to extend bakery plantFor the past two years, Cheshire-based familybakery Frank Roberts & Sons has beenworking on an automation project designed toensure the plant baker continues to maximiseits cost efficiency.

Compliance engineers at Lorien EngineeringSolutions, with which it has been working onthe multimillion pound project, have now beenengaged with the final stages of thedevelopment to extend the existing processand packaging plant, working with the bakery'sinternational equipment suppliers.

Tony Reynolds, compliance manager atLorien, has been working with a bread slicingand bagging machinery supplier in Los Angelesand a basket conve5ing system engineering

company in Christchurch, New Zealand. Aswell as assessing the machinery againstEuropean harmonised standards, Reynoldsmodified the guarding and control systems to

Equipment must meet stringent safety legislation

ensure that the equipment would meet thestringent CE marking legislation.

Reynolds said: "Neither of the internationalsuppliers had any practical experience of theMachinery Directive 2006/42/EC as requiredfor CE marking, so Lorien stepped in to ensurethat the machinery met with all the relevantEU legislation. By preparing thedocumentation for the CE technical file forFrank Roberts & Sons, we can ensure thatemployees are using safe and approvedmachinery."

Frank Roberts produces around two millionloaves, roUs and morning goods each week,which it supplies to the major multiples andindependent stores across the country.

18 August 2011 FOOD manufacture www.foodmanufacture.co.uk

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