Mechanical Technology June 2015

Mechanical Technology — June 2015

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Special report

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project

At the starting point of the Khanyisa Home Care Factory are storage tanks and a modern distribution system

for the raw materials required. The factory has a capacity to manufacture 150 000 tons of liquid detergent

products per year.

Polman, who is also in South Africa as

co-chair of the World Economic Forum

on Africa and to launch the company’s

brightFuture campaign: the new, cutting

edge and green technology that has been

incorporated into the design of the factory

is in line with Unilever’s sustainable liv-

ing plan (USLP) strategy. The USLP aims

to double the size of the business while

reducing the environmental footprint and

increasing positive social impacts.

Speaking at the launch, Minister of

Trade and Industry, Rob Davies says the

green technology, innovation and energy

efficiency are the kind of investments

that South Africa welcomes as part of

its climate change and industrialisation

aspirations. He says the success and

growth of Unilever’s investment projects

in the country will continue to communi-

cate the message of South Africa as an

ideal location for investment in Africa.

“Our 7

iteration of IPAP (industrial

policy action plan) launched on May 7,

2015, focuses on upscaling our manu-

facturing sector footprint and full scale

industrialisation. With the roll out of the

Black Industrialist programme, Unilever’s

investment could play a key role in

knowledge sharing, technology and skills

transfer to black industrialists in the

FMCG (fast moving consumer goods)

and chemicals sector, thus creating an

opportunity for emerging companies to

be able to participate in the mainstream

economy,” says Davies.

He adds that Unilever could work

with the dti in deepening the supply

chain, especially with black industri-

alists, through backward linkages in

agriculture and the FMCG sector as well

as building regional value chains on the

African continent.

The Khanyisa investment is one

of many that have been supported by

the dti’s 12-i tax allowance incentive

scheme. The 12-i scheme has been set in

place to support greenfield investments,

new industrial projects that utilise only

new and unused manufacturing assets,

and other projects that benefit the planet

as a whole. “We are appreciative of

the dti’s commitment to improving this

country’s global competitiveness and

reputation with a view to delivering on

its growth and development imperatives,”

says Polman

The Indonsa factory expansion

The company’s Indonsa factory expan-

sion, another component of Unilever’s

CTP and USLP, increases the Durban

plant’s manufacturing capacity to

100 000 t, which will be fully utilised

beyond 2020, while reducing its carbon

footprint to a total of 41 t. Skills train-

ing of 130 factory workers has been

implemented to ensure world-class

operations.

“This expansion makes the Indonsa

site the largest savoury factory in the

Unilever world by volume. The site will

achieve this growth whilst maintaining

the flexibility to accommodate both the

complex savoury portfolio and aggressive

innovation agenda linked to the growth.”

Indonsa, which means morning star

in IsiZulu, manufactures savoury foods

for Unilever’s brands, including Knorr,

Robertson’s, Knorrox, Aromat and Rajah.

The CTP, known as Ingede, was signed

off in September 2013 and is fully op-

erational, consisting primarily of four key

technical developments:

Mixing capacity expansion:

The in-

stallation and commissioning of three

additional 4.0 m

dry powder Amixon

mixers. These mixers are twice the size

of the current three mixers and will be

primarily dosed directly from bulk silos.

Automated bulk material supply:

The

installation and commissioning of 16

bulk silos (6×75 m³ and 10×30 m³)

and a pneumatic conveying system to

dose the bulk materials directly from

the silos before they enter the new mix-

ers. The system is designed to provide

a supply buffer and, at the same time,

unconstrained mixing operations.

Reconfiguration of the Indonsa site

warehouse:

The current storage of ma-

terials will be moved off site along with

the conversion of the onsite warehouse

to a just-in-time facility, to supply daily

call-off from packing and manufacturing

halls. This is required due to insufficient

storage space in the warehouse for the

expected volume growth. Moreover, this

creates space for the expansion of the

manufacturing facility within the current

building’s footprint.

Integrated material flow management:

The total integrated site management

systems will be upgraded in order to:

manage, execute and monitor site opera-

tions required for the growth. The sub-

systems will include elements such as

dynamic plant scheduling, semi-finished

goods management, line material call-

off and key decision flow and impact

management.

“While we invest in world class facto-

ries, we continue to invest in our people

who drive our success. The Indonsa team

is driven by core values that ensure they

are empowered and believe success can

be achieved by collaboration and team-

work,” Polman concludes.