Three new RBF1200Li Packing Lines Leave GEA Avapac
Another milestone was reached today when GEA Avapac shipped the latest
Lights out packing lines to Fonterra.
Over the next 3 days, the
machines will be transported by road to the Fonterra Edendale site in the South
Island of New Zealand - a round-trip distance of approx 3000km. Along the
journey, the 6 vehicles carrying approximately 50 tonnes of GEA Avapac packing
technology will travel through the nations capital before crossing the Cook
Strait by ferry to the mainland (local name for the South Island).
The Route Taken South
These lines are the first of new RBF1200Li range to be delivered
to the Edendale site where they will be part of the new NZ$212M expansion
project making this site one of the largest milk powder plants in the world.
According to information on the Ebert website (the builder of the new powder
plant), when finished, the new powder tower will also be the tallest in the
world, standing at 56m!
But the new packing machines are not the first
that GEA Avapac have supplied to this site. The Edendale site now has eight
25kg packing lines - the new lines will add a further 36MT/hr packing capacity
to the plant which will enable the new plant to meet the processing needs of
the growing milk supply in the Southland region.
During this project,
there were several challenges presented to GEA Avapac to increase packing
rate, reduce or eliminate potential packaging damages and to eliminate dust
inside the packing room. The engineering team set about their task
by developing some innovative modifications to the RBF1200Li
filler which include:
- Rate increase to 480 bags/hr
- A new heatsealer
- Air-knife system to remove dust from the filling heads
- New weighing system
The team at GEA Avapac are rightfully proud of their achievements and in
particular, the Lights-Out packing concept. The 3 Fonterra lines
and a further 3 lines now under construction for customers in the USA
and Europe brings the total to 19!