Resource review: UK Drinks sector. Reducing fill losses

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1 Resource review: UK Drinks sector Reducing fill losses Ideally, every unit of production in the drinks sector would be filled exactly to the nominal volume. This review outlines ways of improving drinks sector filling efficiency.

2 Reducing fill losses 2 WRAP s vision is a world without waste, where resources are used sustainably. We work with businesses, individuals and communities to help them reap the benefits of reducing waste, developing sustainable products and using resources in an efficient way. Find out more at Front cover photography: Image courtesy of Beergenie.com While we have tried to make sure this [plan] is accurate, we cannot accept responsibility or be held legally responsible for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with this information being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading. This material is copyrighted. You can copy it free of charge as long as the material is accurate and not used in a misleading context. You must identify the source of the material and acknowledge our copyright. You must not use material to endorse or suggest we have endorsed a commercial product or service. For more details please see our terms and conditions on our website at Document reference: [e.g. WRAP, 2006, Report Name (WRAP Project TYR Report prepared by..banbury, WRAP]

3 Reducing fill losses 3 Contents Contents... 3 The case for improvement... 4 Improving filling efficiency... 5 Process efficiency... 6 Drivers to improved filling efficiency... 8 Next steps... 9

4 Reducing fill losses 4 The case for improvement In a perfect world every unit of production in the drinks sector would be filled exactly to the nominal volume. However, in reality there will always be a level of overfilling....loss of product by overfilling occurs even with the most accurate filling equipment. Operating to an average filling weight legislation, the packaged product will unavoidably contain marginally more than the nominal package contents. Best Available Techniques in the Food, Drink and Milk Industries (BREF) The BREF shows food and drink manufacturing plants including those with new filling machines, achieve as low as 0.125% overfilling and those with old machines can achieve between 0.15% and 0.25%. In practice, the overfill rates in the dinks sector are much higher and showed a range of less than 0.5% to greater than 4% 1. Consequently, moving closer to best practice or Best Available Techniques (BAT) represents a significant opportunity to reduce overfill for many companies operating in the UK drinks sector. filling losses are often perceived as acceptable, but by challenging the norm, we have saved money. Our current project is investigating efficiencies for the bottle lines we have minimised resources in bottle production by light-weighting, now we want to minimise the key resource loss, our beer itself Andy Wing Packaging Manager at Hall and Woodhouse This review outlines ways of improving filling efficiency within the drinks sector. 1 Confidential industry inputs

5 Reducing fill losses 5 Improving filling efficiency This review found that the spirits sector operated the most efficient lines and this was considered attributable to the associated stringent regulations and HMRC stipulations and, to a lesser degree, the value of the product itself. The technology is available to ensure minimal loss on all lines, though the costs associated with such efficiency are often perceived to be too high to warrant the improvements to equipment. A preferred approach is continuous improvement getting the best from existing operations. Overfill has many potential causes. Consumers expect liquid in clear glass or PET bottles to meet visual fill levels. For one soft drinks company visited, visual fill losses accounted for 10ml in a 750ml product, i.e. a 1.3% yield loss. A company operating in the beer sector tackled this issue by redesigning their bottle. This was timed to coincide with a mould change at the glass manufacturers. Only minor design changes are usually necessary and in this case it was a slight change to the angle of the neck. Unlike some food ingredients, such as spices, soups and ready meals, bulk densities are relatively consistent across batches within the drinks industry and hence such alterations can be regarded as low risk and are a viable solution to improve filling efficiency and reduce yield loss. However, the majority of over and under fills will be due to inherent process variability. There is evidence for both. Overfill rates are high and under filling is also prevalent. Individual packaging format lines give rise to particular issues since, unlike kegs and casks, the nature of the closures means they cannot simply be opened and topped up. In fast moving lines under filled products are typically rejected, since rework is regarded as not cost effective. Under filling can result in yield losses of up to 3%.

6 Reducing fill losses 6 Process efficiency There are a number of factors that can influence process variability, including: The product being filled carbonated products are often more problematic than still products. The packaging format tall, narrow necked packaging can be difficult to fully dose, especially on fast moving lines. Product weight large packs can be more problematic. The accuracy of keg and cask filling can be improved using metering. Hall and Woodhouse is an independent cask ale producer which has been working to improve fill efficiencies across their whole product range. Their first approach was to target 81 litre casks, being filled at a loss of a litre per cask. By reviewing filling equipment and installing more sensitive, metered equipment, the fill efficiency was improved significantly. Efficiency of the filling head this is dependent on the type of technology, age of the equipment and maintenance regimes in place. Set-up accuracy the number of different products run on each production line and the resulting large number of changeovers can result in less attention than necessary being given to setting up the machines accurately. This is particularly true when the production runs are very short and requires an understanding that the loss of product balances the loss of filling time. Data capture most drinks companies use in-line check-weighers. Correct maintenance and testing of check-weighers is important to ensure the accuracy of the data being generated. Speeding up lines or running new products on the lines can affect the fitness for purpose of the check-weighers. Data interpretation often check-weigher displays are not set to assist operators in monitoring the performance of the production run, e.g. the check-weigher shows the real time weight of each individual product passing over it or the number of rejects in the batch but it does not show the average weight to date. This can result in operators taking no action to address overfills.

7 Reducing fill losses 7 Filler adjustment - the waste reviews undertaken found few companies operating in-line check-weighers linked to the filling head with automated feedback. Although such systems minimise the level of overfill, they can be expensive and this can be difficult to justify where the product is consistent and hence limited adjustment is necessary. Instead, it is trained operators that are best placed to maintain the optimal settings on the filling machine. This is considered one of the most significant areas of inconsistency since, often, little encouragement is given to operators to optimise the settings and the skill of the operators varies significantly. Often the machine is set up and, once a reasonably steady state is reached with an average fill that is somewhere above nominal without spillage, then it is left to run. Line speed - lines will be rated for a set throughput of units. Above this speed, the percentage of incorrect fills may be greater; below it, incorrect fills will be fewer in number. However, the number of units suitable for sale may be greatest at the faster speeds and therefore economically the excessive waste may be negated. The actual cost of product loss is often not determined, with embodied cost undervalued. Fill efficiencies should be maximised where possible, but as with any production site, any individual inefficiencies need to be viewed in the context of the site. Reducing inefficiencies should not be at the cost of increasing inefficiency elsewhere in the production line.

8 Reducing fill losses 8 Figure 1: Kegs on a processing line. Image courtesy of BeerGenie.com Drivers to improved filling efficiency Cost savings can be a strong driver and high performing companies often have product giveaway or the cost of overfill as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI). This can be displayed in chart form with targets in a prominent place on the shop floor. The results should be regularly discussed with staff at the daily or weekly production meetings and reviewed by management at monthly meetings, so as to drive continuous improvement.

9 Reducing fill losses 9 Next steps The proposed approach to tackling poor filling efficiency is: 1 Check-weigher accuracy. Before undertaking any trials it is advised that the check-weighers be serviced so that data outputs can be trusted. 2 Determine the overall process capability. A proposed approach is to set the machine up and then to run the machine without adjustments for a set number of units. Determine the standard deviation of the obtained data and multiply this by 6 to provide a statistical estimate of the process variability. 3 Interpretation of process variability. a. If the level of process variability is acceptable then focus should be placed on improving the repeatability of machine set up; training staff to ensure continuity and best practice is shared across all operators; and, developing reporting and communication protocols to monitor performance. Production management should provide guidance on the acceptable levels of giveaway and this should be included as targets within the communications protocols. b. If the level is not acceptable then a technical review is required with particular focus on the filling head and on all the causative factors for process variability listed previously. Working with the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) is advised to establish the capabilities of the equipment and to provide guidance on the efficiencies that can be achieved. Regularly repeat steps 1 to 3.

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