Ensuring daily supplies of dairy products
Most of our customers worldwide have been facing unforeseen challenges due to supply chain disruptions, as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions.
At the same time, consumer demands have changed significantly, requiring many of our customers to change their product mix and to step-up the output of products in higher demand.
From our end, supporting customers in this situation means ensuring timely and reliable delivery of packaging materials and spare parts as per the changing requirements, as well as providing the necessary support of technicians and field service engineers (FSEs) – all critical elements to maintain a continuous flow of food and beverages, especially dairy products which are staple consumption products in many countries.
Driving uninterrupted operations with Amul to address market needs
Amul, India's largest Dairy Company and one of our key customers, was suddenly faced with an unprecedented demand for Ultra High Temperature (UHT) milk following the COVID-19 lockdown, requiring an immediate expansion in the overall capacity while ensuring delivery reliability.
One of their facilities - the integrated UHT plant of Banaskantha Union, is part of the single largest milk processing plant in Asia. In order to maximise the line output at this plant, Tetra Pak's Service Engineers worked with relentless focus and dedication, to configure and implement changes in production, resulting in the plant's highest-ever single day production; a whopping 576,534 litres compared to the daily average of 400,000 litres.
"Through great collaborative efforts, a magnificent achievement was made by the dedicated UHT team – breaking the previous highest UHT milk production record in a single day. Such results can only happen through true teamwork between Banaskantha Union and Tetra Pak" – Banaskantha Union, Plant Manager.
Fast issue resolution through close collaboration and remote support
In another case, Amul's Powder plant in Sabarkantha Union suffered a breakdown late one night, requiring critical and urgent interventions. Any delay could adversely affect the overall milk processing capability and productivity of the plant causing substantial losses, besides impacting market supplies; therefore, quick organisation and critical thinking were vital to get the plant up and running as fast as possible.
The team from Amul and Tetra Pak quickly swung into action to resolve this, ensuring all requisite approvals were in place to facilitate an immediate support team response. This fast coordination allowed our small team of FSEs to arrive on-site the very next morning.
Although fewer team members than usual were allowed on-site, close collaboration and extended remote support of the engineering team resulted in the on-site engineers resolving the issue quickly and getting the plant back into full production.
