Padok Brasilien: Visit to Tetra Pak, Monte Mor. Wednesday 2011-02-23

Milk, juice or wine? You name it – Tetra Pak has got the packaging for it!

On this bright sunny day, the PADOK bus came to a halt outside the Tetra Pak factory in Monte Mor. The visit started with an introduction by Gert Ekdahl who gave insight to the company, its history and operations in Brazil. Tetra Pak started its Brazil operations in 1957 and today, the company has more than 1000 employees in Brazil, representing approximately 5 % of the number of employees worldwide. One main competitive advantage of having production in Brazil is of course being close to an expanding market, but also a rewarding partnership with the paper Klabin, the biggest producer, exporter and recycler of paper in Brazil. This implies short transports and a much higher growth rate for wood than in e.g. Sweden (hardwood takes 7 years compared to 37 years in Sweden). Even though the Monte Mor plant receives a lot of support from Lund, there is also a small local R&D team on site.

The next presenter was Paula from the food technology department who taught us (all we know) about aseptic technology :) There are more things to consider than one might think before the customer can enjoy a nice glass of cold milk to their cinnamon bun!

The last topic of the day was sustainability, which is a major priority for Tetra Pak, who were first in Brazil to become ISO 14 001 certified. The paper is also FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified. Today, improvement project within all phases of the product life cycle are conducted, from reduction of the environmental impact from production, to recycling initiatives. The packages are 100 % recyclable: the paper is reused in the paper mills, and the plastic/aluminium mix that remains is an excellent material for e.g. boards and tiles. Regarding environmental work, increasing the awareness among customers is important since many are not aware of that the packages are recyclable. Hence, only 25 % of all Tetra Pak packages are recycled today, and the goal is to double this figure until 2020.

The factory tour that followed went through all processes, starting in the printing process, going through lamination, through splitting and palletizing. The process is highly automated and a lot of improvement work has been performed since the introduction of Tetra Pak´s lean program, World Class Manufacturing (WCM). One interesting feature to reduce waste in the process is that defect rolls are brought to “the doctor” where only the defect material is removed while the good material can be sent to the customer.

One reflection from the visit was the surprising fact that 50 % of management started their career on the shop floor, which is not as common in Sweden. Promotions occur relatively seldom, with the aim to build up a steady experience and competence before being promoted to a higher position with more responsibility. The personnel turnover is low, implying an opportunity for this kind of system.

After an excellent lunch with interesting discussion, the visit was ended. Back on the bus and off to new adventures :)

//Karin Romvall, Mälardalen University