Elegant consumer packaging for Dana Zola® blue cheese and impressive reduction in mould change-over time won the 2009 Promens Innovation Awards.

Innovation being at the core of Promens mission, the company every year turns the spotlight on innovation with the Promens Innovation Awards to honour outstanding achievements in new product development and successful implementation of innovative process improvements.

The awards for the 2009 product category went to Promens Stilling, Denmark, for a CombiPac® consumer packagage for DanaZola® blue cheese, for one of Europe’s largest dairy companies, Arla.
The awards for the process improvement category went to Promens Zevenaar, the Netherlands, for an impressive 78% reduction in mould change-over time.

Promens Stilling, Denmark, won the product category of the Promens 2009 Innovation Awards with its adaprion of the CombiPac® consumer packagage for DanaZola® blue cheese, for one of Europe’s largest dairy companies, Arla. The DanaZola® blue cheese package from Promens Stilling presents a new container that has been turned upside-down, so the lid serves as a base and can be used as a serving tray, ready to be placed on the dining table when the container is opened. The container also features a raised window, enabling the consumer to see the product inside. The window being raised prevents it from being smudged by the cheese inside, even if the container is rolled around in the grocery bag or during handling. It is further enhanced by graphic elements , such as hot foil and embossing which exude an “eco-feeling” and an optimized environmental profile, much sought after by consumers today. 

Operational excellence is an important, ongoing, key initiative for Promens. Promens Zevenaar has been a lead plant for one of the related initiatives, the Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED) methodology. Since this project was launched in Zevenaar the average mould change-over time on the project machine has been reduced from roughly 900 minutes to 200minutes. The method is now being copied to other machines in Zevenaar and as it can also be copied to most other Promens plants it carries with it considerable cost reduction and increased flexibility. On the picture (left) Richard Diepeveen, General Manager Promens Zevenaar, Netherlands, holds the the awards his team received for the best process improvement in the Promens Group in 2009.

The Promens Innovation Awards are an annual event and its main purpose is to increase awareness of the importance of innovation and to encourage innovative thinking throughout the Promens Group.