Abafoods, one of the European market leaders in plant-based drinks and creams alternatives

The model to search out an honest, scalable, end – to – end solution in tight areas?

So how can a firm elevate its productiveness thru an optimized funding and a faster time-to-market by investing in the redevelopment of a brownfield?

E80Group Abafoods Interview from E80 Team on Vimeo.

Within the case of Abafoods the acknowledge is definite. Because of this of a end collaboration with Tetra Pak and E80 Team, the firm has effectively increased its production capability by 20%. Gallant targets hold moreover been performed, esteem a 15% low cost in movie consumption and a 50-ton low cost in CO2 emissions in parallel with an 8% elevate in product-on-pallet and a 50% elevate in automatic product management. Around 400 m² of location has been cleared for a doable future growth of the production lines, and security ranges hold greatly improved too in the full plant. “The answer designed by E80 in collaboration with Tetra Pak and Abafoods is very efficient and flexible, since future growth in production lines or changes to the road format will most efficient require the re-routing of LGVs in its put of dismantlement or the constructing of soundless ground-mounted constructions for discipline material lunge. It has improved the effectivity of all our intralogistics operations and diminished our environmental affect, too,” explains Luca Europeo Ecotone’s Operations Director Italy.

The targets of Abafoods

Founded in Italy in 1993, Abafoods has its HQ in Badia Polesine (Italy) and is a member of Ecotone Team. At the soundless time, the firm is with out a doubt one of many European leaders in the production and distribution of plant-based drinks and creams different to milk and dairy merchandise.

Ecotone Team, whose HQ depends in Lyon, is on a mission to assist biodiversity thru brands esteem Isola Bio, Bjorg, Allos, Alter Eco, Bonneterre, Clipper, Danival, Destination, El Granero, Kallø, Total Earth and Zonnatura. In 2019, Ecotone Team turned the main European food firm to fabricate B Corp certification. The firms in the community are based in six European worldwide locations, utilize an complete of 1600 individuals, and recorded a turnover of 725 million euros in 2021.

The funding made by Ecotone at its Italian location has allowed production to reside as end as imaginable to the areas where the obligatory natural uncooked offers are grown and has performed a upward push of 27 million litres of plant-based drinks a yr, corresponding to 20% of capability at the identical time. “This strategic funding is supposed to augment the commercial competitiveness of Ecotone in a increasing marketplace for plant-based drinks. Ecotone has a indispensable presence in Europe and is committed to admire its core values and promote better innovation and sustainability in the food trade. I would esteem to thank the full groups looking forward to his or her tireless work over the past three years. Because of this of them, this project has been a immense success and our Badia Polesine manufacturing unit has develop into a level of reference for European trade“, announces Christophe Barnouin, CEO of Ecotone.

The Abafoods plant, which produces natural plant-based drinks for brands esteem Isola Bio, Bjorg, Bonneterre, Abbott Kinney’s and EcoCesta had reached the limit of its capability with four processing lines but the seek recordsdata from turned into peaceable increasing.

“The goal of the project turned into to elevate production by imposing a flexible solution that will be integrated with our digital infrastructure, with none operations downtime. Work due to this reality wanted to be performed selectively to continue serving prospects and shoppers whereas the location turned into step by step being remodeled. The answer had to take intralogistics effectivity and red meat up security on location. And since of our manufacturing unit is fairly minute, existing location wanted to be thoroughly optimized. Upright from the plan planning stage, a immense deal of attention turned into paid to picking the format to guarantee that changes hold been fully ‘future-proof’ and
in a scrape to love mumble over time in a logical capability
“, states Luca Europeo.

Abafoods turned to Tetra Pak and E80 Team to originate an integrated solution able to rising production capability, prioritizing security, getting rid of bottlenecks, improving effectivity and flexibility and heavenly soundless and future seek recordsdata from with out having to elongate the plant.

Abafoods in Badia Polesine currently employs 163 individuals and occupies a production location of 14,000 m², with out a doubt one of many supreme of its kind in Europe. Yearly, five production lines originate it imaginable to plan 120 million litres of plant-based drinks, most of which would be destined to France, where the Ecotone Team makes the huge majority of its turnover.

The answer

In accordance with the inquire of from Abafoods, Tetra Pak and E80 Team attach collectively a crew of experts to create and originate an integrated and customized system to automate the end of line in a particularly tight location.
The predominant mammoth discipline turned into to liberate adequate room for the additional production and packaging lines wished to attain a 20% elevate in output in as minute time as imaginable.
To optimize location for the full packaging lines and for E80 Team’s soundless palletizers, wrappers and labellers, Tetra Pak first repositioned its machines right thru the soundless location utilizing a brand soundless format validated by the 3D mapping expertise. This superior tool creates a virtual model of an existing manufacturing unit and determines the specific programs, thereby warding off pointless issues in the installation phase. 3D mapping produces a right plant format and identifies the full crucial parts right thru the manufacturing unit, in conjunction with hidden ones.

“The complexity of the project required end-to-end teamwork from our partner E80 Team lawful from the plan planning stage. Flexibility and suppleness hold been key to the success of this project. The expertise of our engineers, combines with the most contemporary 3D mapping expertise for simulating the affect of format variations, along with end collaboration with Abafoods and all our suppliers proved helpful as we chosen basically the most compact and efficient equipment. The identical applies to the interconnection of our gear with the patron’s ERP”, explains Giulia Drusiani, Myth Manager at Tetra Pak. “Because of this of immense teamwork and stunning planning, we managed to bring a in actuality advanced project.
We modified the format for secondary packaging on four lines by installing a brand soundless end-to-end line with no affect on the continuity of production. As a replace, we managed to attain the effectivity needs required by Abafoods”.

Because of this of SmartDesigner tool,
a discrete-tournament simulation gadget modelled and integrated in E80 Team common sense, we managed to overview and check the functioning of assorted solutions whereas optimizing processes at their fullest.

“This tool allowed us to simulate manufacturing unit flows for Abafoods and overview soundless and future working scenarios. Rigidity checking out at the gadget create stage helped us to name the supreme intralogistics solution with 95% lag bet,
whereas gratifying in near future production will enhance and a subsequent plant growth. We affirm this more or less continuity for the full life cycle of the plant”, explains Giuseppe Cassano, Key Myth Manager at E80 Team. “Two instruments, 3D Mapping and SmartDesigner, enabled us to originate, put into effect and affirm – lawful from the create stage – a very customized, decent and modular gadget with optimized location. From palletizer to wrapper, and thru to truck loading, we hold been in a scrape to name and assign away with all capability bottlenecks in declare to guarantee total plant effectivity over time”.

Operator security on the location of job turned into one other crucial neutral. The spend of automatic laser-guided automobiles remodeled semi-manual operations into centrally automated, integrated and controlled processes, getting rid of risks on: merchandise, individuals, gear and constructions. Because of this of integration between the SM.I.LE80 gadget platform and Abafoods’s ERP, efficient flows are in actuality ensured from uncooked discipline material reception to performed product cargo.
“The spend of LGVs greatly diminished interference between forklifts and pedestrians and has due to this reality diminished the probability of accidents too. The soundless format, designed with the merit of E80 Team and Tetra Pak, and the spend of LGVs has allowed us to assign away with a well-known bottleneck in the waft of offers, triggered by the movements of forklifts from the warehouse to the production constructing to amass performed merchandise”, Luca Europeo explains.

“As for future changes and growth”, Cassano continues, “thanks to more and more modern modular solutions we are able to trade and add functionality nearly as if the manufacturing unit hold been built with Lego® bricks. Every little thing will continue to be optimized and managed by our LGV and gadget”.

The outcomes of the project

The wants of Abafoods hold been completely happy thanks to Tetra Pak and E80 Team’s expertise, technology, expertise and full hardware and gadget portfolio, consisting of end-to-end solutions from uncooked offers reception to processing, packaging, end-of-line and warehousing.

With this soundless solution, Abafoods would be conscious of the targets of continuous enchancment and rising its market fragment.
The joint mission of Tetra Pak and E80 Team is to merit firms to develop and red meat up their production and performance whereas guaranteeing the protection of personnel.

“Indulge in all archaic manufacturers, we archaic to plod pallets twice, first storing them in the warehouse after which loading them onto automobiles. With this soundless solution, we hold integrated and improved our intralogistics, in conjunction with our automated staging operations, and plod pallets lawful as soon as. We hold got a very automated pallet waft for our main SKUs and prospects lawful up to truck loading. This has improved the effectivity of all our operations as properly as lowering our affect on the ambiance. As a long way as ROI is anxious, let me come up with some figures. If we had built a brand soundless production plant, we would with out wretchedness hold spent 5-6 million euros. As a replace, with this project we invested most efficient 1.5 million in infrastructure. And we hold no longer most efficient optimized existing location but moreover attach in a very automated and integrated solution with out having to end production”, concludes Luca Europeo.