SPX Corporation announced that its flow technology segment has been awarded a contract valued at over $10 million to custom design and install a fully automated, continuous margarine and butter processing system at the new Tine Jaeren plant insouthwest Norway. The system will utilize the technology of Gerstenberg Schroder, which SPX acquired earlier this year.
The new facility is being constructed by Tine, Norway’s largest producer, distributor and exporter of dairy products. Founded in 1928, Tine is a dairy product cooperative consisting of more than 15,000 farmers and produces a wide spectrum of dairy products, including Jarlsberg cheese, Snofrisk goat cheese and Ridder cheese.
SPX Flow Technology manufactures, engineers and installs components and turnkey solutions for the global food processing industry, leveraging its core product lines, including APV, Waukesha Cherry-Burrell and Gerstenberg Schroder. The fully automated system will be designed to enable Tine to continuously process both butter and margarine spreads in the same production facility. In addition, the system will be configured to deliver environmental benefits through low water and energy consumption.
“Tine is a leading European dairy producer and a valuable addition to SPX’s growing roster of global food and beverage customers,” said Don Canterna, SPX segment president. “With our strong expertise in designing food processing plants around the world, especially in the dairy sector, we look forward to continuing to broaden our presence in this market.”
Gerstenberg Schroder’s end-to-end processing system will be designed to enable Tine to minimise the operational water consumption on the butter maker. The system will be built to capture most of the fluids used during the cleaning in place process, and thus reduce the costs and disruption of the disposal process versus systems that do not capture most fluids.
Fluids will be preconditioned to the temperature required for the cleaning which can result in a reduction of cleaning time. These features, along with the fact that the electric motors are often controlled by a frequency converter, are expected to help minimize the plant’s overall energy consumption.
“This contract also helps demonstrate and validate the added value Gerstenberg Schroder brings to the SPX portfolio of food processing offerings and capabilities,” said Ken Rodi, president, Flow Technology EMEA.
In January 2010, SPX announced the strategic acquisition of Gerstenberg Schroder to broaden and strengthen the company’s global food processing technology, equipment offerings and systems capabilities. Based in Denmark, Gerstenberg Schroder is a prominent designer, manufacturer, installer and service provider of processing systems and components serving the global food industry. The company’s heritage of food industry expertise dates back to the early 1900s.
