Japan’s largest dairy company, Meiji, has improved its production capacity with the installation of Tetra Pak’s E3 Compact/Flex filling machine.
The new technology was installed in 2013, when Meiji moved to a new plant in order to increase its manufacturing efficiencies and continue to improve its production quality. The Tokyo-headquartered company opted to replace its existing filling lines with the new E3 Compact/Flex filling machine, extending its 50-year working relationship with Tetra Pak.
The move to a more modern and efficient facility enabled the company to engage with new technologies that could enhance its production efficiency further, and in turn, minimise both energy and water consumption. By adopting the new filling machine, Meiji has been able not only to strengthen its position as the leading dairy producer in Japan, but also to meet the developing needs of its business as it continued to serve both the school and traditional milk markets.
E3 electron beam technology
The increase in efficiency was driven by a revolutionary technology used in the E3 filling machines, which uses electron beam technology to sterilise packaging material. This technology is known as eBeam and is a first for the drink carton industry, as FoodBev reported back in June.
The eBeam technology sterilises packaging materials by using a controlled emission of electrons, in the form of a beam, which hits the surface of packaging material and kills bacteria. It replaces the traditional hydrogen peroxide sterilisation process, and means that the Tetra Pak E3 filling machines can reach a capacity of up to 40,000 portion packages per hour. This in turn, saves customers as much as 20% in operational costs, the company said, and can significantly improve environmental performance.
Meiji production director Teruyuki Izawa explained: “In order to meet consumers’ increasing demand for quality products, we needed a solution that would provide us with improved quality and production efficiency. To help us achieve this, Tetra Pak recommended the Tetra Pak E3 Complex/Flex filling machine. The new machine yielded excellent results with high quality, capacity and production efficiency. We learned a lot from working with Tetra Pak through the field testing period, and we’re grateful for the opportunity.”
Using the Tetra Brik 200 Slim, it has been able to produce over 5m packs of milk on its new filling machine over a six month testing period. Meiji has reported a significant increase in efficiency, with a production speed of more than 9,000 packs per hour – 1,500 packs more than the TB/19 machine that it was using previously, along with a reduction in packaging waste and an improved seal quality.
In addition, the Tetra Pak E3 filling machines also provide a higher standard of hygiene and no semblance of hydrogen peroxide residue, ensuring quality across all products.
Meiji, which started working with Tetra Pak in 1965, runs a number of dairy filling and packaging machines including the TT/3 filling machines for Tetra Top drinking yogurt and flavoured milk, and Tetra Pak TB/19 machines for Tetra Brik chilled milk, as part of its dairy production operation.
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