Everything made from milk OSM Łowicz

plies methane gas and electricity to 80,000 residential customers. “This acquisition was part of our sustainable growth strategy, which sees us ready to pick up any further opportunities of this kind, should they arise. Other recent important investments have been made for the renewal of the invoicing software system for both Vivigas and Aemme Linea Energie. Our supplier for this project is Engineering Spa, a leader in this field, and the aim is that of being equipped with an efficient, effective and constantly up-to-date ‘engine’, fulfilling the continuous demands made by the market and the AEGG (the Authority for Electricity and Gas).”

“Currently the two main market segments that we serve are residential customers and top clients (high power usage industrial clients) but we are implementing a development plan for the so-ho segment (small businesses, retail, artisans, catering establishments). Geographically we are focused on the national market, first of all because of our sustainable growth philosophy, but also because we believe that, despite the current difficulties, this is a market which offers growth opportunities to the right company. Future growth could involve an expansion of volumes, as well as possible acquisitions. We are open to both strategies; always paying attention to the market’s dynamics.”

“Growth is a must, which will be implemented in terms of an increase of turnover, number of clients and geographical areas served. It will also be achieved through an enrichment of our current product range and a widening of the services that we offer. In particular, we are evaluating the possible future offer of a range of energy efficiency services. Our current organisation has the capacity to accommodate future growth, but we are also ready for expansion, should this be demanded by a further steep growth.” n

Andrea Bolla Davide Villa

EVERYTHING MADE FROM MILK

The dairy cooperative OSM Łowicz has been operating on the Polish market for over a century and continues to dynamically develop and strengthen its position. Since 2012 it has benefited from a much extended production and sales network, with units in Łowicz, Toruń, Kutno, Konin, Sosnowiec and Kalisz. Piotr Sadowski reports.

OSM Łowicz is one of the most respected brands in Poland, valued at PLN 246.8 million. In 2012 it purchased 486 million litres of milk from local producers, an amount which guarantees that the cooperative is able to offer over 300 different dairy products. These include UHT products, maturing cheeses and a wide range of other dairy-related products. In addition to its own branded products, OSM Łowicz also cooperates with leading retail networks for which it manufactures products under their own brands. Every year the cooperative introduces new products to the market – in 2012 novelties included, for example, porridge oats with milk, which have further expanded the already impressive range of ready-made meals and desserts offered by OSM Łowicz. In addition, new products include yoghurt drinks in various flavours, aimed at children aged 5-12, packaged in appealing containers. The offer of cream cheeses has also been increased, with an introduction of three new flavours of sliced cream cheeses.

Remarkable output capacities

Every day OSM Łowicz is able to process around 1.5 million litres of milk. In 2011, the cooperative launched in Łowicz a brand new cheese processing hall. This enables it to manufactured around 65 tonnes of cheese every day. Naturally, the increased output capacity has been facilitated by including additional production units into the cooperative’s structure. This also gives OSM Łowicz access to many more milk producers.

The new lines for cheese processing have been installed as part of a major investment, which has also included the construction of a new production hall, as well as a fully-automated, high capacity, cold storage facility. In Konin, on the other hand, an investment in modernising a line for the production of ESL milk in PET bottles has led to an increase of the output capacity for this particular product to 9000 bottles per hour. Also in Konin the cooperative erected a high capacity storage facility, capable of stocking around 2000 pallets, two-thirds of which is designated to operate in refrigerated conditions. Furthermore, a new line for transporting PET bottles from the production line to the storage facility has been installed in Konin. In Sosnowiec the cooperative launched a new line for packaging butter milk in Elopak packaging. All of these investments are directly linked to either increasing the production or improving the storage conditions for finished products.

Along with investments focusing on optimising the production process, OSM Łowicz

Over 20 years of partnership between OSM Łowicz and SIG Combibloc.

What SIG Combibloc values a lot is long time business relation with its partners. We are very proud to have developed this kind of collaboration with one of the biggest Polish dairy cooperatives – OSM in Łowicz. There are still people in both companies, who can remember the very beginning of the common business, one of them is current Łowicz CEO, Mr. Jan Dąbrowski. The first SIG Combibloc filling machine was put into operation in the Łowicz plant in central Poland in the early 1990’s.

Unique products of OSM Łowicz like UHT milk, creams, milk drinks and even drinking chocolate, in combination with our aseptic packaging can keep their high quality and excellent taste for a long time without using preservatives. Installed SIG Combibloc equipment base offers high speed and efficiency as well as wide carton packaging shape and volume variety. High sense of responsibility towards the consumers and for its own brands makes OSM Łowicz a demanding and critical customer setting high benchmark for our company. SIG Combibloc strives to fulfill the requirements specified by OSM Łowicz which is always very stimulating and challenging. This also helps us to provide products and services of highest quality. We are very much looking forward to at least another 20 years of working together.

SIG Combibloc is one of the world’s leading system manufacturers of carton packs and filling machines for beverages and food. We make sure that quality, innovation and caring for the environment go hand in hand. With production plants and branches in more than 40 countries, we guarantee customerfocused cooperation and support wherever you are.

For more information visit: www.sig.biz