27 May 2008 - Milk Link, the UK's most progressive integrated dairy business, has completed Phase One of a major investment project at The Cheese Company packing plant in Oswestry, Shropshire. The completion of Phase One – at a cost of £2.5 million – is an important step towards making Oswestry the most advanced packing plant in the UK, using state of the art technology and processes.
The site, which packs 800 tonnes of cheese every week, has undergone a major reorganisation and refurbishment since the project began last Spring. Two new lines have been installed – one slices and one flow wrap – both of which uses the very latest packing technology. The packing hall has been completely reoriented to accommodate the new lines and to provide flexibility going forward for more new equipment.
As well as making the plant more productive in terms of volume, the programme, known as Project Vision, aims to benefit The Cheese Company’s customers which include Sainsbury’s, M&S, Waitrose, Tesco, Iceland and 3663. More automated processes mean better quality control whilst the investment in new technology allows The Cheese Company to provide innovative packing solutions for retailers whose requirements are constantly changing.
Robotic technology is also being introduced for the packing & palletisation of cheese slices with the infrastructure in place for all flow wrap lines to be robotically palletised at some point in the future. The use of robotic technology provides opportunities for staff at the plant to increase their skill set in an industry which is increasingly using new technology to enhance quality control and packing. Training and staff development will be vital to the next phase of the project which gets underway later this year.
Commenting on the progress to date, Chief Executive Neil Kennedy said: “Reaching the end of Phase One of this project marks a milestone in our commitment to being an industry-leading business using state of the art facilities and providing excellent customer service. Our customers will benefit from greater production capacity, even higher service levels and innovative packing solutions.”
Ian Grice, General Manager at Oswestry, added: “Such a major piece of work presented some real challenges, not least of which was moving 20 of our packing lines whilst the factory remained open at all times! We’re delighted that our service levels were not impacted at all and I would like to thank everyone at the site for their patience and cooperation. We are setting the standard and keeping Oswestry at the forefront of cheese packing at a time of changes and challenges within the dairy industry.”