More than 60 years of company history – and then almost overnight all the equipment was at a standstill, not a single employee was to be found in the production plant’s hallways. This is what Violeta founder and owner Petar Ćorluka and his manager Ante Miloš experienced in 2017 at Lasta’s main site in the town of Čapljina in the southwest region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The manufacturer of sweet pastries had been known throughout the Balkans since 1952, but was then forced to close its doors. The two businessmen, however, were not discouraged with the stagnant production – on the contrary. They had great plans for Lasta: The tradition-rich company was to become part of Violeta, a successful multi-million-dollar company in the cosmetics and hygiene products sector. Petar Ćorluka was confident that it would be possible to steer Lasta back to its former greatness with Violeta providing a strong foundation and entrepreneurial skills.
Wanted: A partner with expertise
Violeta has extensive know-how in the production of napkins and detergents, floor cleaners and nappies, feminine hygiene products and shampoo – but biscuits and wafers were new territory for all its employees. There was another issue as well: Taking over old equipment and production processes was not an option for Violeta. Ćorluka and Miloš wanted state-of-the-art equipment that would ensure that Lasta could reboot under the best possible conditions.
To meet these requirements, the right expertise was needed – both for the production processes and for packaging the baked goods. Ante Miloš found what he was looking for at Schubert: “because Schubert has a great technological advantage to offer,” as they now know at Violeta. These were the best prerequisites for achieving the objective: To produce baked goods that live up to the traditional Lasta name.
Violeta wanted a packaging solution that could guarantee high flexibility in the processing of different baked goods, fast format changes, as well as high performance and the handling of large quantities – capabilities that have proven themselves in the production of cosmetics and hygiene products. Additionally, the packaging line had to offer high mechanical stability to enable long service lives even with heavy-duty utilisation. And finally, the personnel situation also had an impact on the specifications: Unskilled operators would need to be able to operate the line just as reliably as skilled personnel.
Violeta also relied on the solution provider’s expertise in packaging development at a time when the final characteristics of the products had not yet been determined. The old Lasta hall was practically a shell at the time and the company had to start from scratch.
Sustainable paper packaging
In practical terms, a variety of display cartons, cardboard trays, together with both single-pack and multi-pack flowpacks were initially required, and they had to be as sustainable as possible. In addition to the newly developed display cartons, the packaging development department also created a sustainable design for cardboard trays with dividers. Even for the flowpacks, Schubert succeeded in making paper-based packaging material possible thanks to its flexible sealing technologies in the flowpacker: The single-pack flowpacks consist of a composite cold-seal film, the multipack flowpacks of paper-based film that is also cold-sealed. The packaging machine manufacturer took advantage of the opportunity to explore the limits of processing paper-based films and succeeded in achieving a significant increase: Instead of the previous 20, up to
44 m/min are possible without any loss of quality in the packaging. The entire team cooperated, carried out numerous tests and thus contributed to optimising the plant‘s performance.
The fact that the implementation was a resounding success is reflected in the sight that visitors to the Lasta factory witness today. Since the installation and commissioning of the three Schubert machines flowpacker, cartoner and casepacker, the filled biscuit rolls and hollow wafers have been running from two ovens into the flowpacker. In a counterflow process, pick & place robots place the sweet baked goods into cardboard trays, which are then packed into multipack flowpacks made of paper-based film. All packaging units run through a checkweigher on their way from the flowpacker to the cartoner. Only after passing this important quality assurance step are the individual flowpacks or multipacks packed into display cartons by the cartoner. The excess product from the flowpacker is further packed in an additional pouch packer. Finally, Schubert‘s casepacker, as the last station, is responsible for packing the pouches into display cartons with lids.
Comprehensive packaging solution
With a holistic package consisting of consulting, packaging development and line technology, the Schubert team succeeded in fully satisfying Violeta. “Schubert has a great technological advantage and superior mechanical engineering. The company is an exceptionally reliable partner,” points out manager Ante Miloš. A particular advantage for Violeta‘s employees is that the plant is not only powerful, but can also be easily operated by anyone thanks to the intuitive HMIs and clever plant design.
Because an increase in production is planned, the Schubert line currently fills only half of Lasta’s hall: Another oven will be built, including a new packaging line. Everything suggests that the site will offer even more potential, but one thing is certain: Idle lines and empty corridors will never be seen again following this successful relaunch.
Gerhard Schubert GmbH, Crailsheim
Author: Dirk Andrich
Area Sales Manager,
Gerhard Schubert
