Solar cells are one of many measures to reduce emissions
Innocent is the leading enterprise in the field of fresh fruit, founded in London in 1999. Products from 100% pure fruit smoothie, expanded to NFC juice, plant milk, coconut water and other series. In 2020, innocent came to China and launched its first star product, smoothie naive Fresh hit raw fruit. Coca-Cola currently owns 90% of it, but innocent remains independent and is known as one of the "strongest and fastest growing" brands.
Walter: 'We have a great dream to make our earth home better and healthier,' said the company's production director. Climate change is now one of the biggest challenges, so one of the company's main goals is to reduce the carbon footprint as much as possible. These efforts paid off in 2018, and the company officially passed the Benefit Enterprise (B Corp). In order to better control the sustainable factors in the production process, the company decided to build its own filling plant after years of OEM filling. The plant is located near the Rotterdam port and Walter said the location is very good for our logistics network, saving 20% of the total kilometers of the supply chain and thus reducing emissions. The company sets an example to lead the development of the industry and hopes to achieve climate neutral in 2025. The Rotterdam factory integrates the intelligent design of process innovation and reduces the emissions of all fields of the enterprise. It is the first factory in the world to achieve all carbon neutral and will play an important demonstration role. The plant is built using sustainable, locally relevant resources to reduce energy demand as much as possible through waste heat utilization and solar energy with wind power generation starting from 2024. All-electric trucks carry orange juice from a nearby warehouse to the production plant for processing and filling, leading a lead in sales logistics. When designing the factory, we should not only consider environmental friendliness, but also create a modern, comfortable working environment and a good corporate culture for the 200 employees at that time: more daylight lighting, free activities, co-working space layout, so that employees can spend comfortable and efficient working hours. Currently, the factory has four PET bottle production lines, all of which are Krones equipment with bottle conveyor system, case conveyor system，pallet conveyor system, Walter said. Mainly filling the fruit juice and fruit shakes. There is also enough space to install the fifth line of production. On the one hand, sustainable development means that the operating material consumption and water consumption must be reduced as much as possible. On the other hand, the reliability of the equipment and the quality of the products and packaging must also be ensured. Since we produce a variety of different beverages, using different bottle types and formulations, the equipment must be flexible and have sufficient production capacity, while also facilitating product conversion. Each set of equipment used two to three bottle types, filled with about ten different drinks, and for these reasons, the Krones equipment was finally selected. For our request, Krones offers the best solution.”
The company produces orange juice, vitamin fruit shake, ginger juice drink and other products
In early 2021, four PET bottle production lines arrived at the site. Production began in July 2022. Currently, these lines are filled at different speeds: one line is 22,000 bottles per hour, the other is 27,000 bottles, and the other two are filled at 32,000 bottles. Contipure AseptBloc DA Blow bottle filling mixer is suitable for high acid products, round or square PET bottles, standard and lightweight bottles, 70,000 bottles per hour, and only one bactericidal medium: gaseous hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), including a Contiform 3 Pro bottle blower and a Modulfill Asept cold sterile filling machine. For the Contipure D bottle blank sterilization module, the company has selected the model with special sustainable development ability. The machine consumes less hydrogen peroxide, steam and energy, and takes less preparation time, thus enabling a lower overall cost of ownership. All bottles after filling, according to the format of the body label or different labels. After the Topmodul modular labeling machine, one Variopac Pro FS. Filling is done in an absolutely sterile environment to extend the shelf life and maintain the product taste. Each line is washed after 72 hours or after formula replacement. The full CIP scrub process lasts about 90 minutes.
Walter said the company highly values the reliability and flexibility of the Krones service team. When the krones team arrived at the site to start installing the production line, the civil work was not completely finished. Fortunately, however, the team is actively engaged in the flexibility to support project implementation. In addition, Krones also showed the spirit of strict commitment. In the whole process of the project implementation, there has never been a promise that is not fulfilled. All the equipment arrived at the site on time, was put into operation on time, and the efficiency test was completed on time. Krones kept his promise, so the cooperation on this project went smoothly.
Production Director Walter
In terms of digitalization, Krones has developed the MES scheme, which includes the ERP system, process guidance system and warehouse management system of the new factory through the corresponding interfaces. The system includes a variety of different solutions for the SitePilot digital brand, including the Planning production planning system, the Line Management order and management system, and the Line Diagnostics operation data detection and analysis system. In the Share2Act Services service platform, all information such as Connect interconnection system and shift plan will be available through digital means to all employees.
The location is superior, and not far away is the largest Rotterdam port in Europe
Contipure D Bottle blank sterilization module
Topmodul Labeling
tiform 3 Sterile filling machine
A comfortable office environment
www.cxipackaging.com (bottle conveyor system, case conveyor system，pallet conveyor system，handle applicator)
