Cheese made “The Dutch Way” with SOMIC

VEPO SMILES AND SAYS ‘CHEESE’

Cheddar, Emmentaler, Gouda, Edam, Havarti, Mozzarella and more. These are just some of the many types of cheese Vepo Cheese slices, grates, and cubes, in a variety of package formats.

Vepo Cheese needed a versatile, spaceefficient and gentle case packer. SOMIC had the answer in the ReadyPack system.

Specialty cheese maker Vepo Cheese in Oudewater, The Netherlands, processes and packs a variety of cheeses made “the Dutch Way.” That is to say, the traditional Dutch way a familyowned master cheese company in the business for more than 100 years would make cheese. Vepo combines efficient, modern processing techniques with high quality ingredients and old-world style. Grating, slicing, cubing, shredding and packaging an array of “kaas” (the Dutch word for cheese) from The Netherlands and other European countries for retail, foodservice and industrial markets worldwide, the company offers cheeses in hard and semi-hard versions that are portionpacked, tray-packed, wrapped and bagged. This sounds good, but the packaging departments in both of Vepo Cheese’s processing/production facilities in the western portion of The Netherlands have rather limited space. Until recently, they

required labor-intensive methods to package the grated cheese. Technical Operations Manager Hugo van Put was commissioned to automate the final packaging steps while keeping equipment costs from skyrocketing. “We had three packaging lines and two people per line, loading bags in boxes all day. Automating the process would cut labor and costs,” van Put says. “We wanted case-packing equipment with a small footprint that could be versatile yet gentle.” Familiar with SOMIC equipment from Germany, van Put contacted SOMIC, which proposed installing a ReadyPack case packer on each of three production lines at the facilities. SOMIC began addressing the situation immediately. “Both SOMIC and I like details. So, there was a good chance we would come up with a good end result,” he points out. “Other machine manufacturers came up with solutions, all with extra bells and whistles. But we were impressed right away by SOMIC’s solid approach to our application. Their SOMIC team asked us many detailed questions, such as the exact box sizes and specific containerboard we use to case-pack our products, which foils we use and what other equipment was on the line, among other questions. We felt SOMIC was a machine provider that could take care of our needs.”

“A good inventory of equipment was the beginning of a successful relationship,” adds Jan-Willem Cornelisse, Area Sales Manager for SOMIC. “We have indeed provided many cheese producers with packaging and wrapping machines.” Positive product handling

The ReadyPack case packer functions with positive product handling, which Vepo Cheese and Van Put soon discovered would greatly benefit the grated cheese in pouches that are shipped in wraparound cases. After grouping the pouches in multiples, the machine forms a tray or wraparound case around them. In production, the pouches are conveyed on a belt to one of the ReadyPack case packers, which then places them on a servo-controlled slat chain. A sliding arm then pushes the pouches in a cassette onto the case blank, securing them as the case is folded precisely around them. “Metal plates create an internal back pressure when the blank is folded, so that a straight, perfectly formed wraparound case of product always emerges from the case packer, which facilitates palletizing,” Cornelisse explains. “The machine’s servo controls provide precise positioning, reliability, velocity and torque.” During the packaging process, Vepo Cheese protects its products from mold susceptibility with a flush of nitrogen/CO2 mixture. Molding is why the right balance between gas and the amount of cheese being packaged is essential to ensure adequate shelf life of several months. “Yet too much gas results in bulging bags that can cause problems during repackaging,” says Cornelisse. “With standup pouches, grated cheese can collect and bulge at the bottom of the pouch, which won’t allow the pouch to fit properly inside the shipping case. That’s why it is important that the SOMIC system deliver the pouches to the casing station on an equal footing and transport each one carefully to the case former, even at high speeds.” Good product handling is another important aspect of case packing, adds van Put. “‘Micro-perforations of the pouch material can often result in mold formation. Our test of a ReadyPack demonstration machine at SOMIC in Germany gave us confidence that the machine would gently handle our cheese packages.” During the virtual Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) in Germany, Vepo Cheese witnessed demonstrations of all of the ReadyPack machine’s essential features. Mapping out in advance all the parameters for the machines and the available plant space, SOMIC worked with Vepo Cheese to carefully prepare for the equipment installations with fine detail to ensure that both production facilities would face no surprises during the actual equipment installation. Space considerations for the new equipment were factored for both operations, Van Put recounts. Employees placed large pieces of cardboard that would represent the perimeter of the SOMIC case-packing machines across the production floor. The twodimensional replicas were also slid through various access ways in the Vepo Cheese production facilities to make sure the machine dimensions would fit properly within the allotted space. After all of the measurements and details were considered and tested, SOMIC and Vepo Cheese ensured the factory floors were ready for the machine installations. The ReadyPack case packers only occupy 6.5 m (or 70 square feet of space). The new case-packing equipment only took one day to install. A team of SOMIC Benelux technicians was ready to assist the Vepo Cheese technicians as the first shipping cases rolled off the conveyor. The machine operators trained with SOMIC representatives the rest of the week, followed by Site Acceptance Testing (SAT). Van Put was pleased with the choice of automatic equipment from SOMIC, and its well-prepared, smooth installation. “From that time on, the machines have been running smoothly. Good coordination on the installation and planning in advance between SOMIC and Vepo Cheese was a real relief in the final phase.”