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Müller Dairy’s Streamfeeder

investment pays off in no time

MÜLLER Dairy’s investment in five Streamfeeder model ST1250 machines to automatically feed base cards into yogurt multipacks have “saved us a fortune” according to its operations manager George Perry. In fact, the company is soon to order its sixth unit to accommodate further expansion at Muller’s Market Drayton, Shropshire site.

Sales of Müller multipacks have “gone through the roof” in recent months and the Streamfeeders have coped well with the added throughput. “The units have saved us staffing costs as previously we had to have someone at the end of each line to feed the cards,” explains Perry. “Payback has been very, very quick and definitely under six months,” he says.

Supplied by UK distributor Partners in Packaging, the Streamfeeder model ST1250 base card feeder uses Streamfeeder’s patented Differential Friction Technology to ensure precise product separation and feeding. At Müller, the machines are used to feed base cards at 80 cards/min into six packs of, amongst others, Fruit Corner yogurts, 24 hours a day. The multipacks are then wrapped, and the base card makes them more stable for effective display in the chiller cabinet.

Perry is not only happy with the machines, but also the after sales service and back up he has received from Partners in Packaging. Indeed, he is so happy with the equipment he says that “there is no reason to look elsewhere”.

Duncan Macintyre, joint managing director of Partners in Packaging says: “More and more UK companies are coming round to the benefits offered by the Streamfeeder card feeders units and the significant cost savings they can bring in most manufacturing sectors. He also highlights the attractive payback the machinery offers.

· Müller launched its famous split pot format of fruit sauce and dairy rice 20 years ago and test marketed its Fruit Corner and Crunch Corner yogurts in the UK in 1987 with a national roll out a year later. The Market Drayton production site was constructed in 1991 and has seen two major extensions as the business has grown. It has been UK market leader in this sector since 1992.