March 2007
PETplanet

Granarolo is one of the leading Italian food companies. Established in 1959 by a small cooperative in Bologna, it has grown into a major dairy company and the fourth biggest food company in Italy. The Granarolo brand was introduced in the sixties and is one of the few dairy brands distributed all over Italy.

Granarolo’s strategy for growth is based on the acquisition of local dairies and today the group has an extended network of dairy brands recognised for innovation and for the quality throughout the range: Centrale del latte di Milano, Prima natura, Latte Accadì, Perla, Vogliazzi, Yogolat, Centrale del latte di Cosenza, Alto Lazio, Verbano, Pizzeria. In June 2004 Granarolo acquired the activities of Yomo, a well-known Italian company specialising in the yoghurt sector.

State-of-the-art overhaul
At the end of 2006 the new Granarolo facility in Pasturago near Milan, a former Yomo site, began production after an extensive overhaul. The renovated facility in Pasturago is one of the biggest in Italy with products ranging from yoghurt to fresh milk in PET bottles.
Sig. Migliori, Director of Operations of the Granarolo group, and Sig. Sonnante, Technical Director of the Granarolo group, gave us some details of the project.
"We had to transfer the entire production of Centrale del Latte di Milano from the site in Milan to Pasturago. To achieve this Granarolo Operations Management has planned an expansion and overhaul activity covering all aspects of Pasturago facility. First of all, 8000 square metres of new buildings were added to the structure. We installed 40 new tanks for raw milk and pasteurised milk storage and a completely automatic milk feeding and pasteurising system with state-of-the-art technology, probably the most advanced installation of its kind in Italy.
"We also had to hook up the utilities supply system (power, water, cold water, air, steam). We transferred our Procomac fresh milk bottling line from Centrale del Latte di Milano to Pasturago and deployed a new palletising system with new robot palletisers from Procomac Packaging.
For the Yomo yoghurt production plant we added six new top loading palletisers to obtain an optimised and flexible end-of-the-line, that can cope with the most stringent requirements from our logistic and distribution departments".

"Innovation from the beginning"
That’s the message on the Granarolo Web site (www.granarolo.it). One of Granarolo’s missions is to invest in new technology in order to improve production efficiency and working conditions. What kind of relationship does Granarolo look for as far as suppliers are concerned? And what future challenges are ahead for the group?
"Innovation is for Granarolo one of the main reasons for success and it is imperative for us to create long-lasting relationships with our main suppliers. We aim to establish with them a continuous exchange of information that allows both parties to advance their technology. Granarolo not only positively evaluates new technologies, but urges all of its suppliers to develop new ways of obtaining better products. As regards the new challenges ahead, we can simply affirm that our day-to-day work ultimately aims to put Granarolo in first place, for the quality and freshness of our products and for the pleasure of our customers".

The technology behind it all
Procomac Packaging supplied six “Pressus” top level feeding palletisers for the yoghurt line. Their main feature is a very compact structure that allows easy integration into pre-existing lines, where floor space is usually limited. To further reduce their size, they are coupled in three double systems served by three pallet feeding units. Their mobile pallet structure guarantees that performance is maintained over time.
In another section of the production facility a PET bottling line for fresh milk has been installed. This line was originally installed at Centrale del latte di Milano and was transferred to the new l ocation at the end of 2006. High quality fresh milk in distinctive PET bottles is central to the Granarolo range of products; in fact fresh milk accounts for more than half of the total turnover of the Granarolo group. The line produces 12,000 bph based on a 1.0 litre bottle.
A Sipa linear blow moulder is used to produce PET bottles in-house from preforms. To optimise the new installation, new air conveyors, full bottle conveyors and shrink wrap conveyors have been installed by Procomac, together with a brand new automation system using the latest generation “field bus” data network to reduce installation time and number of cables required.
The heart of the line is represented by a Procomac volumetric electronic filler Fillstar FX. Designed with aseptic filling in mind, this filler features a highly linear product path and no moving parts in contact with the product. Hygiene is at the highest level: automatic dummy bottles for closed-loop CIP, filling environment in overpressure of sterile air with HEPA filters, automatic foaming system for external surface cleaning etc.
Procomac has obtained 3A international certification for dairy products for this filler, as laid down by 3A Sanitary Standard Inc. in the United States. Certification covers all aspects, from design to machine manufacturing and assembly, from project management to operator training.
At the end of the line in Pasturago three robot palletisers, again from Procomac Packaging, with automatic pallet loading system, guarantee maximum flexibility of package and pallet configuration.

Our thanks are due to Procomac of Sala Baganza, Italy, for their assistance in preparing this article.