In tropical Costa Rica, the leading cookie producer in the region – Pozuelo Cookie Company, a subsidiary of Nutresa Group S.A., delivers an array of sweets and confectionery to the regional markets since 1919. The rapidly growing market demand has required the company to enhance its packaging line in order to maintain its strong position in the market.
“Money is key in the region, and as a leading cookie manufacturer, we wanted the best technology for the best price in the shortest timeframe. That’s why we were looking for a supplier that could meet our integration needs and offered all of the technologies on our list”, says Santiago Builes Maya, director of operations at Pozuelo.
Pozuelo Chiky cookie
The quest for increasing productivity started in 2013, when Pozuelo contacted Bosch to improve the output of its popular “Chiky” biscuit product line.
The popular cookies get their distinct look and flavor from the bottom, half coated in chocolate, which also posed unique packaging challenges for the biscuit manufacturer. First, the tight factory footprint prohibited the cookies from receiving ample cool-down after baking and prior to enrobing.
Second, due to the climate conditions, the cookies had to be packed in a systematic way that allows the chocolate side of the cookies to not face the packaging film. In the end Bosch designed a new line for the Chiky cookies including a Rotzinger belt conveyor system, a CKG 1300 cooling tunnel and two Pack 201 HS horizontal flow wrappers.
The conveyor system transports the biscuits from the oven to the existing enrober, which is where the biscuits receive their distinctive chocolate bottom. Following the enrober, the cooling tunnel ensures the proper tempering of the product before they are penny stacked and loaded manually into magazine feeders. These feeders present the product to the wrapper in a systematic way that allows the chocolate side of the cookies to not face the packaging film, ensuring the consumer will only experience the best version of the product.
“Bosch sales representatives in Central America became familiar with our needs and provided consultation and guidance to our team through the decision process,” Builes notes.
The new solution enabled Pozuelo to achieve production goals with less labor costs and, consequently, reallocate resources to more advanced tasks. Prior to purchasing the equipment, the company first involved its line staff in the process, so that employees would understand and support the upcoming changes.
A few years into production, Pozuelo has been running the new line, providing 25 percent more capacity and more productivity than ever before. “At first, we were slightly concerned about the scope of this investment. However, we were able to increase our productivity both simply and easily, without compromising the quality of our product.
With the equipment’s ergonomic design, we were able to optimize the working environment for our employees. Add to these features its underlying reliability, and we’re extremely satisfied with the end result,” says Builes.
Read more in our customer magazine packazine, page 24.
Links
Find out more about the Pack 201 wrapper on our website.
Contact
Jana Ujevic
Marketing Manager
+1 715 243-2503
jana.ujevic@bosch.com