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The new production and logistics centre of the beverage
company Oy Hartwall Ab is state of the art. Hartwall Lahti,
a project that cost some 234 million euros, is also the biggest-ever
investment by the Finnish food-processing industry.
"In the beverage and brewery industry we are at a unique
level in terms of integration and the degree of automation,
and that includes internationally," says Esa Vataja,
the technical director.
Competition in the sector requires new packaging solutions
and a diversified product range. By concentrating the production
and warehouse functions at Hartwall Lahti the company will
achieve greater production flexibility and efficiency.
"Efficient and flexible logistics are essential in the
face of fiercer competition and a changing operating environment."
Deliveries in a couple of days
The gross floor space is the equivalent of more than 20 international
soccer pitches. The distance from one end of the building
to the other is about half a kilometre.
The production capacity will reach 350 million litres a year,
which is about 40 per cent of the total brewery sector capacity
in Finland. The production of all the beverages is controlled
from one monitoring room. The aerial conveyor system, which
has proved itself in the automotive industry and leaves floorspace
empty, is carries out transportation inside the centre.
The distribution capacity is 400 million litres a year. The
biggest automated warehouse of its kind in Finland guarantees
deliveries to its customers throughout the entire country
within 48 hours.
Twice around the world
On a busy summer day deliveries of beverages from Hatwall
Lahti will reach some three and a half million litres. That
means supplying every Finn with two one-third-litre bottles
in one day.
On such a day Hartwall's fleet of vehicles, equipped for
distributing and moving tasks, will travel about 50 thousand
kilometres on Finland's roads i.e. one and a quarter times
around the world.
"As far as logistics are concerned, Hartwall Lahti's
location is excellent. The city of Lahti is, taking the country
as a whole, right in the heart of things."
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Products based on good water
Hartwall's most important raw material is water. "The
quality and adequacy of the water at Lahti are in a
class of their own," says Esa Vataja
The ridged terrain at Salpausselkä, which was
formed in the Ice Age, is Nature's own filter. Thanks
to it, the oxygen-containing groundwater, which is well-known
for its clearness and freshness, does not contain a
great amount of iron, salt or other properties that
affect the taste or colour.
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www.hartwall.fi
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