Orkla Confectionery & Snacks responds to new case packing demands with highly flexible Syntegon equipment

Among the many factors of success, adapting to market changes is probably the most vital. In this regard, Orkla Confectionery & Snacks took a decisive step to stay abreast of competition. The Finnish confectionery producer decided to tweak its secondary packaging to meet international export requirements. With Syntegon's Elematic 3001 WA Compact, a flexible and modular case packing solution, Orkla is securing its competitiveness.

Whether sweet or salty, liquorice is highly popular throughout Scandinavia. As a result, Swedish, Finnish and Danish confectionery manufacturers are not only leading liquorice producers. They also develop new variants based on the original recipe. The diluted extract of liquorice root was first mixed with glucose syrup, ammonium chloride, flour, sugar, potato starch and other flavorings in 1760 by English apothecary George Dunhill to create the well-known candy. Ammoniac salt, commonly known as salmiak, is a typical ingredient of the Finnish liquorice variety – which comes in different shapes and sizes. Salmiak pastilles and liqueur are well-known treats among local liquorice lovers. So is the Panda brand, the market leader for Finnish liquorice and known for its countless varieties since 1927.

The Panda brand is a mainstay in the portfolio of Orkla Confectionery & Snacks Finland AB. The Finnish company belongs to the Oslo-based Orkla Group, which comprises a wealth of consumer goods companies and totals 70 brands. The Finnish Vaajakoski site is home to Orkla’s confectionery production, including chocolate and liquorice. With its tasty liquorice creations, Orkla Confectionery & Snacks mainly targets the markets in Scandinavia, the UK, the US and Canada, and Central Europe.

Changing export conditions

As a future-oriented company with an ambition to secure its market share, Orkla Confectionery & Snacks recently adapted its packaging processes to changing market requirements. "About two years ago, export countries such as the US and Canada decided to change their requirements for secondary liquorice packaging," explains Arto Liimatainen, Orkla Confectionery & Snacks's technical manager. "Instead of so-called two-face packages, they now required one-face packages. This meant switching from packing two products side by side to one package in a row. Our two case packers at the time did not manage this configuration well."

In addition, Orkla Confectionery & Snacks aimed at increasing the production volume due to increased demand. But not just in any way: at the same time, the liquorice producer wanted to pack a great variety of case formats, since different export countries ask for different cases. All this was to happen on a limited footprint, and with as little downtime and maintenance as possible. "We were hence looking for a single, space-saving alternative to our two case packers. The new machine needed to be able to achieve high infeed speeds and reduce format changeover times to a minimum," says Jari Leinonen, project manager at Orkla Confectionery & Snacks.

The company’s decision-makers therefore researched suppliers who could provide machinery for increased throughput, highest reliability, flexibility, and ease of use. "At our Vaajakoski plant, a bagger fills the liquorice into different bag sizes and feeds two rows of bags lying flat, bottom first, to our case packers. The new case packer would have to merge the lanes, collect the bags, form the cases, and close them according to the retailers’ packaging and export conditions," explains Arto Liimatainen.

Flexible and compact

When he and his colleagues heard about Syntegon and the Elematic 3001 WA Compact, they were thrilled: the machine seemed to be the perfect fit for packing a broad variety of bag sizes into different case formats. “After the first presentation, it was obvious that the machine delivers what its name suggests – a compact, easy-to-clean and accessible case packer,” Arto Liimatainen adds. One thing in particular caught the manager’s attention: the case packer’s format flexibility and speed.

The Elematic at Orkla can handle ten case formats at an infeed rate of around 150 bags per minute. Despite the various bag sizes, the Elematic’s infeed and collating process remains efficient due to the machine’s modularity. Operators can easily adapt the collating chain for the next case format. Moreover, Syntegon kept the overall number of format parts to a strict minimum for a time-saving format changeover. "The machine’s unmatched flexibility tipped the scales for Syntegon, but so did the company’s service support," Jari Leinonen explains.

Packaging design at its best

Orkla relies on ten case formats to pack different counts of bags standing upright in rows. "However, it quickly became clear that one of the formats could not be processed on the Elematic," explains Bernhard Vaihinger, product manager for case packers at Syntegon. "We then redesigned the format and shared our proposal, together with explanatory videos on ‘How to handle the case’ with the customer." “It was important to keep the blank’s dimensions and to ensure that the full wrap-around case with perforation remained feasible and the case easy to open after transport”, adds Andreas Gund, Area Sales Manager at Syntegon.

"We were impressed with the fast and efficient solution from Syntegon," says Arto Liimatainen. "In total, we are now able to pack ten case formats with different bag configurations, including 2 times 6 bags, 3 times 6 or even 1 times 8." Thanks to its case flexibility, the Elematic 3001 WA Compact can produce full wrap-around, ledge tray and tray cases for various applications.

Building around bags

Because the bags do not have a fixed, stable shape, they posed another challenge Syntegon was willing to take on. “The bags with liquorice are rather flat and do not provide any counterpressure since they are filled with loose products and air. Case forming, placing the bags inside and closing the packaging thus required gentle handling and accurate grouping to literally ‘build’ the transport case around the bags,” Arto Liimatainen points out. After that, the cases with the liquorice bags are palletized and ready for transport. Depending on shelf requirements, Orkla Confectionery & Snacks ships them as wrap-around cartons with or without perforation for on-shelf presentation and brand appeal.

The Elematic 3001 WA Compact covers all requirements and the production volume of two machines. It currently runs every day and is changed to a new format twice a day on average.

Leaner processes

Thanks to the new machine, Orkla was able to revamp its production line without having to expand its footprint. "We are very pleased to have secured our competitiveness with a much leaner set-up," says Arto Liimatainen. "This fruitful cooperation has not only benefitted our production. We also built a strong bond with Syntegon which we are eager to maintain for many years to come."