In the months of June and July, the packaging and processing industry saw the announcement of new plant investment, updates on factories coming on stream soon, and several new facilities open. In this short video, we round up the highlights.
More on the factories featured in the video below:
Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard Winemakers’ new high-speed combination can and small format bottle line, the fastest of its kind in the southern hemisphere, is up and running, catering to growing demand in the RTD sector.
The new line, with a processing capacity of up to 24,000 cans per hour, is set up at Pernod Ricard’s Rowland Flat site in South Australia. The line delivers efficient canning and bottling capabilities that will enable Pernod Ricard to produce its Ready-to-Drink (RTD) range in-house for the Pacific market, as well as supporting its small format still and sparkling wine ranges.
More than 100 different products will be filled and packed on this line, including Jameson Cola and Jameson Sodas (375ml); Absolut cocktails (250ml); Malibu cocktails (250ml); Malfy Gin & Tonic (300ml); Altos Margarita (330ml); and Jacob’s Creek Still and Sparkling (200ml).
Martogg
Cutting edge sorting and processing technology forms the backbone of Martogg’s new Circular AU food-grade plastic recycling facility, on track to be up and running in Melbourne before year end.
The Circular AU plant is the most sophisticated of its kind here in Australia, and it enables Martogg to close the loop on Australian waste, for Australian re-manufacturing applications.
The Circular AU plant is currently in commissioning. Once operational, it will reprocess plastic packaging waste, with feedstock sourced from kerbside recycling and CDS streams, to produce food-grade recycled plastics for converting into food packaging.
Recopak
Recopak Machinery, the Australian family-owned packaging machinery manufacturer founded in 1986, has today opened its new facility in Cobram, Victoria.
This new factory will allow Recopak to streamline its in-house manufacturing, offering more thorough testing of machines and faster delivery times.
With this investment behind it, and charting steady growth over the next five years, Recopak believes it has placed itself in a more competitive position in the Australian packaging machinery industry.
Kuka Robotics
Kuka Robotics Australia held a successful grand opening and partner day at its new office in Rowville, Victoria on 14-15 June, celebrating its 125-year anniversary and unveiling its new LBR iisy cobot to those in attendance.
With a vision to provide the best service to customers, Kuka Australia has moved to the new location, which now has a much larger space for operations, and comes with a fully equipped Kuka Application Centre.
Kuka Australia also launched the LBR iisy cobot family to the ANZ market at this event, with product managers on hand to discuss features and benefits, as well as market intelligence and trends.
Mars Petcare
Two advanced Single Serve Pouch lines headline Mars Petcare Australia’s $112.6 million investment in its Wodonga plant, which will also see pet food production brought onshore and 60 new jobs.
A 7800 square metre manufacturing facility will house two advanced Single Serve Pouch lines to produce for Whiskas, Advance, Optimum, Dine, and new product ranges. It will have an annual 25kT capacity, or 290 million pouches.
Construction of the new facility next to the existing Wodonga factory has begun and is set to be fully operational by mid 2025.
