When it comes to chilled liquid foods, production flexibility is a crucial element of your operation, and can help give you a competitive edge in a rapidly developing market. And whether your flexibility requirements entail switching effectively between raw materials and packaging volumes, or ensuring your production capacity for specific products is as high and efficient as possible, all our chilled packaging solutions can help you achieve your chilled liquid food ambitions.
Do more, and do it faster, with dual production lines
Thanks to our filling machine innovations, such as the newest Tetra Pak® TT/3 2100, producers can now run two production lines at the same time, allowing you to fill and pack two different products or sizes simultaneously. The two lines are completely separated, essentially functioning as two independent machines.
“This dual-line configuration significantly increases your production flexibility,” says Thomas Eklund, Product Manager of Tetra Top Platform. “It provides a full packaging portfolio for whichever two formats you choose in just one machine. And with QuickChange™, you can switch between different volumes in less than five minutes without affecting the other side of the filling machine.”
This setup gives you great flexibility when differentiating products in your chilled portfolio, and catering to different market segments and ever-changing consumer trends.
Capture emerging opportunities with cost-effective flexibility
With the chilled liquid food market continuing to develop rapidly, many producers are opting for a more diverse product portfolio, often combining dairy products with modern, plant-based alternatives, for example. In such cases, flexibility relates to your ability to efficiently produce different products, something our dual-line technology excels at.
“You can set up with separate connections going from different product tanks to each production line in the filling machine,” explains Eklund. “That means you can fill and pack different products simultaneously, giving you even greater flexibility in your production operation.”
And food safety remains paramount – these flexibility benefits don’t come with an elevated risk of cross-contamination. “Since these two lines are essentially two separate machines, they have no interaction whatsoever, which means that the risk for contamination is minimal, even for highly allergenic foods,” adds Eklund. “So, there are no limitations regarding what accepted products you can fill simultaneously.”
Filling and packing different products using one machine is also a more cost effective way of expanding your chilled liquid food portfolio when compared to investing in multiple pieces of equipment. For example, rather than having two separate machines to fill portion and family packages, the complete packaging portfolio is accessible using the same machine. So not only can you run different volumes in the same filling machine, but also different types of packaging material barriers and closures.
“You have both the option of QuickChange – between different volumes for example – and the possibility of changing between different formats on a Tetra Pak® TT/3 2100, which can be re-built from using Base to Midi,” says Martina Hansson, Solution Manager at Tetra Pak. “That’s very useful if you want to move into a different category on the market in the future.”
When it comes to flexibility, finding the perfect package for your chilled products can be critical for success. To help with this, Tetra Pak doesn’t just offer a wide range of package formats, volumes, and openings and closures; as noted above, you can rebuild our filling machines and adapt the configuration to market changes and your future needs.
“We also offer different packaging material specifications with different benefits,” says Erik Sebelius, Solution Manager at Tetra Pak. “Some are optimised to protect specific products, while others are adapted to work better in certain recycling systems or offer the lowest possible carbon footprint.”
Don’t let cleaning and configuration hold up production
Two lines to the filling machine also mean that cleaning and disinfection can be done on one side while the other runs at normal capacity. As an example, suppose you’re using both lines to fill milk in two different formats and want to convert one to chocolate milk. Instead of shutting down production to make the switch, one line simply continues as usual while the other is cleaned and reconfigured to fill the new product, in the same or another volume.
Increased capacity for standardised products
Filling products in different packaging formats is a significant flexibility benefit of our filling machines. But what if you have a more limited portfolio where volume changes are more of a priority? Dual production lines can help here, too, by increasing an already high capacity.
“If the focus is on producing large volumes of fewer products, running two production lines allows you to fill 14,000 packages per hour in the same format but different volumes,” says Christoffer Persson, Product Manager of the Tetra Rex Platform. “If that is what you need regarding flexibility and capacity, we’d recommend our Tetra Pak® TR/28 platform.”
Minimise the risks of unexpected production downtime
Chilled liquid food producers know how critical maintaining the cold chain is, with unexpected stops in production, especially when the product has been processed and entered the filling machine, leading to disruption and significant lost revenue if the product spoils.
But with the right processing setup before the filling machine, the flexibility benefits of our packaging solutions help circumvent downtime-related issues in your chilled production.
“When the filling machine connects to one product line, if you get a stop on one side of the filling machine, redirecting all production to the other side is possible,” says Eklund. “If you have any unexpected issues, this production flexibility can be critical.”
Whether you produce highly diversified, premium chilled liquid foods, or have a more standard portfolio, increased flexibility in your production confers many benefits. So regardless of your flexibility requirements, or how important a role it plays in your chilled liquid food production, our solutions fit your operational needs.
