​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Profitable precision at Mengniu​

As one of China’s leading dairies, Mengniu must be able to constantly deliver products with uniform and consistent quality, and in large volumes. An in-line blender from Tetra Pak helps the company deliver on its promise.

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A consumer wants its favourite milk drink to taste the same every time. With an in-line blending system, ingredients are continuously fed into a mixer that generates a homogenous blend without interruption. In such a continuous process, high precision is key if you want to maintain uniform and consistent product quality.

In 2014, China’s second largest dairy producer Mengniu was planning to upgrade its production systems and turned to Tetra Pak for solutions. “We’ve been cooperating with Tetra Pak since 1999 and see the company as a strategic partner,” says Niu Shizhen, director of Mengniu Group’s technical department.

Mengniu decided to introduce a new, innovative and simplified OneStep technology system for the production line at its Taian plant. “There were many challenges to overcome. First of all, it was a brand-new project for both parties, so we didn’t have any real cases to study, just calculated lab data,” Shizhen recalls. “Secondly, if we want to introduce something new within Mengniu, we need to talk to and convince all units involved throughout the whole group. Finally, we invested in two production lines, one in our Taian plant and one at the Qingyuan site.”

In short, the solution from Tetra Pak is a simplified process, yet the end-product remains intact. “To be frank, we were worried about product stability in the beginning. After the field test, we found that the machine met our standards perfectly and the finished products were as good as before,” Shizhen says.​

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