Automation and digitalisation unlock continuous improvement
Imagine if food and beverage companies always knew the best way to optimise their operations. With a growing portfolio of industry-leading automation and digital solutions, Tetra Pak empowers customers worldwide with actionable insights to enhance production efficiency.
“Our advanced automation and digital solutions take the guesswork out of everyday decision making, providing data at every stage in our customers’ operations – from raw ingredient intake and production, to product packaging, warehousing and beyond,” explained Sean Sims, VP Automation & Solutions at Tetra Pak. “We ensure our customers get the right data at the right time so they can avoid mistakes, get better returns and continuously improve their business.”
By minimising production variability and enhancing quality, Tetra Pak has consistently shown that automation and digitalisation solutions can boost Overall Equipment Effectiveness by up to 20% – while also improving operator safety. The market is expanding too, with McKinsey & Company predicting a 25% increase in customer investment in automation and digitalisation in the coming years.
“Our unique offering combines deep expertise in the food and beverage industry, in-depth knowledge of processing and packaging equipment, and specialised automation and digitalisation capabilities,” said Sims. “With few industry actors offering all three, we play a crucial role in shaping the future of food production.”
Innovating food systems of the future
Tetra Pak is committed to driving change and being a positive influence on the way food systems can work in the future through four pathways:
- Enabling the transition towards more sustainable dairy
- Innovating for new food sources
- Reducing food loss and waste
- Scaling access to safe nutrition through sustainable food packaging
“Our overall objective is to collectively shape more sustainable, resilient, and secure global food systems for generations to come,” explained Rodrigo Godoi, Vice President Processing Portfolio Management at Tetra Pak. “Yes, it’s about developing new solutions, but it’s also about doing what we do more sustainably, such as by reducing waste and further optimising dairy production through concrete actions.”
Decoding consumer insight
Understanding consumer preferences and behaviour is essential, for developing future foods that are safe, nutritious, and affordable.
“If we don’t understand consumer behaviour, we risk falling out of sync with their needs – ultimately making it harder to support our customers effectively,” claimed Godoi. “Consumer insight is particularly important when designing new products and solutions or developing alternative proteins, for example."
“If we don’t understand consumer behaviour, we risk falling out of sync with their needs – ultimately making it harder to support our customers effectively.”
In fact, Tetra Pak plays a crucial role in helping our customers enhance their production efficiency, meet evolving consumer demands, and drive innovation in food and beverage processing. By leveraging data-driven insights, our customers can create products that truly resonate with their target audience, while reducing operating costs and improving quality and manufacturing sustainability.
In 2024, Tetra Pak customer Mengniu was awarded a ‘lighthouse’ certification from the World Economic Forum for its excellent technology-driven performance at its new factory in Ningxia, China.
As a supplier of processing and packaging equipment with unique digital platform capabilities, Tetra Pak helped Mengniu to increase packaging efficiency by 67%, while reducing energy consumption by 23% and space utilisation by 37%. The factory now has nine filling lines – including the Tetra Pak® E3/Speed Hyper and an advanced digital control room.
A Tetra Pak-created ecosystem based on digitalisation and artificial intelligence
Early in the project, it became clear that an ecosystem of companies was needed to provide the total solution that would transform Mengniu’s factory. Tetra Pak, therefore, played the crucial role in creating that ecosystem of different suppliers and partners that could bring their unique expertise to the project. Automated digital systems control everything from the factory’s reception to the processing, packaging and final warehousing. Operators receive instructions via tablets throughout their shift and are alerted to any events that require their attention. Production instructions are automatically routed to the most suitable equipment and materials are circulated along the most optimal path. This optimises energy use scheduling and ensures the highest quality control standards.
Read pressrelease Mengniu awarded World Economic Forum ‘lighthouse factory’ status with help of Tetra Pak technology
As a global leader with a long history in plant-based beverage processing solutions, Tetra Pak has delivered more than 130 plant-based lines around the world since the 1980s. Today, the company is taking the plant-based category to the next level by launching disruptive innovations that are healthier and more sustainable.“
Our innovative ‘whole’ plant-based beverages differ from ‘regular’ beverages as they contain 100% of the bean or grain,” said Ola Funkquist, Line Solution Manager at Tetra Pak. “Importantly, this results in beverages with higher nutrition, no ingredient waste and lower overall environmental footprint.
” Tetra Pak’s whole soyabean beverage lines have been well-received in Asia – particularly in China and Vietnam. Building on this expertise, whole soyabean beverages are now gaining traction in Europe with growing interest from customers. New whole oat grain beverage processing lines will be launched in 2025.
End-to-end solutions optimised for plant-based production
Tetra Pak’s unique plant-based offering includes end-to-end solutions that combine both food processing and packaging lines – to convert plant-based raw materials into final product on the pallet. “Our comprehensive solutions, based on proven technologies, optimise raw material throughput, minimise environmental impact and reduce the total cost of ownership for our customers,” explained Jaume Reig, Global Director Business Stream Prepared Food and Plant Based at Tetra Pak. “By helping customers to build more efficient production operations, we support more resilient food systems and drive innovation to revitalise the industry.”