Aqua d’Or Experienced an 8 % Increase in Productivity

Usually, you’ll find an interlayer sheet made of corrugated cardboard between palletised bottled drinks. However, when Palcut A/S and Aqua d’Or joined forces in 2014, the collaboration led to a significant increase in productivity by switching to an alternative solution: anti-slip paper. An underutilised solution within the food and drink industry, according to Aqua d’Or.

Cardboard Interlayer Slowed Down Production

When palletising the bottled water, Aqua d’Or used to place corrugated cardboard to protect the bottles and stabilise the pallets containing 4-7 layers of bottled mineral water.

However, the cardboard was a point of congestion in the production system.

The main issue was the frequent need to replenish the corrugated cardboard, which had to be done manually and meant a lot of stops in the palletising lines.

A challenge that was solved by switching to anti-slip paper.

“We have gone from 400m of cardboard to 3800m of Antim® anti-slip paper. That means that instead of going into the line 2 times per hour, we now only have to go every 3 hours.”
John J. Warberg, Operation Director at Aqua d’Or.

This has resulted in a significant drop in production downtime and is a productivity game-changer.

Automated Palletisation Increased Productivity by up to 8%

Sheet dispensers from Palcut were installed on three of the palletising lines. These dispensers automatically cut the interlayer sheets in the needed dimensions from Palcut’s Antim® anti-slip paper rolls, eliminating the need for multiple pallets of different sized cardboard – and the benefits from this solution are undeniable.

“The Palcut solution has seen productivity improve by 50,000-100,000 bottles a day, which is an improvement in percentage terms of 4-8%. Palcut is simply a brilliant idea.”
Bruno Jensen, Former Production Manager at Aqua d’Or

100 Fewer Pallet Spaces

The switch to Antim® anti-slip paper also significantly reduced the need for pallet spaces. The corrugated cardboard sheets took up 120 spaces, whereas now Antim® anti-slip paper rolls only take up 20 pallet spaces.

Thereby, Aqua d’Or frees up a lot of storage space, meaning more room for ready-packaged pallets. And with a dispatch number of between 300 and 1,800 pallets a day, an extra 100+ pallet spaces come in handy.

Reduced Carbon Footprint

At Aqua d’Or, they are very conscious of their environmental impact, and they are making a determined effort to reduce their carbon and water footprint. For this reason, they exclusively use green electricity from wind power.

However, analyses show that the packaging process accounts for 69% of the company’s CO2 emissions.

Using Antim® anti-slip paper Aqua d’Or reduces paper pulp for interlayer sheets by 22-66%, depending on whether it is the 150- or 350-gram quality Antim® paper. By way of comparison, the corrugated cardboard weighed 450 grams.

“When we look at the environmental impact, of course, by having this [Palcut] solution, we impact the whole supply chain because we have less pallets meaning less transport and less handling in the factory. Secondly, it’s less cardboard. And lastly, it’s 100% recycled, which we aim to make our whole range of Aqua d’Or products.”

John J. Warberg, Operation Director at Aqua d’Or.

Stabilised Logistics and Transportation

Antim® anti-slip paper has also led to better transportation and packaging.

Some pallets containing filled bottles are transported by forklift for film wrapping. The flat surface of the corrugated cardboard led to multiple incidents of pallets collapsing. However, the switch to Palcut’s Antim® anti-slip paper has significantly reduced the number of incidents due to the anti-slip coating on the paper on which the bottles do not slide.

Another issue used to be splits in the stretch foil. When the sharp edges and corners of the corrugated cardboard protruded from the pallet, it caused the film to split. This problem has been eliminated due to the much softer Antim® paper.

Aqua d’Or Mineral Water A/S

Aqua d’Or was established in 2000 and is one of Europe’s most modern mineral-water plants.

With a market share of 80% and an output of 100,000,000 bottles of water to the Scandinavian market and export, Aqua d’Or is the most popular and best-selling mineral water in Scandinavia.

The factory manages the whole process – from the environmentally friendly production of the plastic bottles from so-called ‘preforms’ to palletisation and all the way to the delivery to the customers.