Towards the end of 2011, I attended a two-day consumer packaged goods symposium hosted by Rockwell Automation. It was not, as you may expect from an event put on by a supplier company, a sales pitch in any way. This inaugural conference, entitled ‘secure and flexible manufacturing for a changing world’ was a well-balanced mix of topics and speakers, with presentations from Rockwell Automation’s customers on the future of the global packaging industry, the opportunities for new business and the subsequent challenges.
Packaging engineers from leading consumer brands – Nestlé, Kraft Foods, Mars, FrieslandCampina, Heineken and Kimberley-Clark – along with packaging machinery manufacturers, including Bosch, Tetra Pak, GEA Procomac and MeadWestvaco, gave the 100 industry representatives attending the Bologna event an insight into their company’s operations, strategies and future investment programmes. Many complex issues were addressed, including sustainability, growing food-safety awareness, local and international environmental legislation compliance, increasing competitive pressure, demands from developing markets and changing and diverse consumer preferences.
The same messages came across over and over regarding machinery design – the importance of 24/7 continuous production with the ability to cater for an ever increasing number of SKUs. Health and safety, too, was of prime concern – for the machinery operators and the consumers of the products packaged. An increase in allergies – to nuts for example – has emphasised the need for extra care in equipment cleaning, which can be helped greatly if hygiene is designed into the build – with enclosed cables, easily accessible parts and no flat surfaces, for example.
All the companies recognised the growing global demand for packaged food, which is being driven by the developing markets – the BRIC countries – and the need to respond to their specific requirements. Smaller packs for smaller incomes, for instance, is one such emerging trend to consider in 2012 and beyond.
Felicity Murray,
Editor
Felicity Murray
