Changing consumer preferences, sustainability requirements as well as the growing
need for customisation of added-value packs and new selling or shipping units are
forcing manufacturers to adapt their production models and supply chains. Food, Home
and Personal Care (FHPC) producers want to move towards a leaner and eco-friendlier
secondary packaging philosophy by re-evaluating their current use of repacking
solutions, which generate significant cost, quality and sustainability side effects. Smaller
and larger case counts can minimise these effects by managing, storing and shipping
products in suitable quantities with much more ease and flexibility for future customised
retailing needs. To meet the need for extreme case counts while still dealing with the
standard high-production formats, Sidel is launching Cermex EvoPack, a highly flexible
Industry 4.0 case-packing platform for shaped containers in wrap-around blanks, trays &
Shelf Ready Packaging (SRP).
Nowadays, consumers are becoming more demanding in their individual shopping needs,
wanting to shop conveniently, at any time or anywhere. Not only does the continuing e-
commerce boom reflect this, but it can also be seen in the renaissance of smaller urban stores,
with major retailers returning to the city centres to grant easy access to everyday necessities.
“Certain FHPC sub-categories or players sometimes have customisation needs for up to 40% of
their production volumes. Until now, the most common way for producers to approach these

requests was to use manual repacking services,” says Didier Saussereau, Packing Product
Manager at Sidel.
Limiting repacking activities and anticipating future customised retailing needs
These repacking activities generate costs not only via the extra packaging material used, but
also by the additional manual labour tasks, which now exceed the acceptable limits as regards
manufacturers’ competitiveness and margins. The associated environmental waste is making
repacking even less sustainable. Finally, the additional handling during repacking may
potentially generate scratches or scuffing on the products.
“To reduce and simplify repacking, we are seeing an increasing need for small case counts to
help producers reduce the number of products per shipping unit down to the in-demand batches
of two, three, or four products. These offer the opportunity to manage, store and ship products
more easily and flexibly for downstream tasks at distribution centres or within e-commerce order
preparations,” comments Didier. In parallel, demand for complex product set-ups will remain
and will still require manual repacking manipulations. So, with upstream technical capabilities to
supply larger case counts, producers could ship the same number of products with less
secondary packaging used and wasted.
“Now being able to produce both small and large case counts will help them better anticipate
trends and accommodate new channels, as long as the traditional high production volumes of
the standard formats are still handled on the same production line and packing solution,” Didier
adds.
Unprecedented secondary packaging size range and high speed, all on the same
compact equipment
Cermex EvoPack offers an unprecedented secondary packaging size range to manage reduced
case counts, containing only two, three or four products, as well as very large transit cases with
24+ containers intended to go into repacking, while at the same time also being able to handle
standard high-volume case formats. “With its flexible and extreme case count capabilities, the
platform can help producers restore industrial margin thanks to significant cost savings as
regards the use of material, equipment and energy. Additionally, it will certainly greatly
contribute to meeting their carbon footprint reduction and sustainability goals,” Didier adds.
Delivering a remarkable ratio of up to 60 cases per minute in a compact footprint of less than 30
square metres, Cermex EvoPack offers fast and repeatable format changeovers ranging from
just five minutes for a case format change up to 15 minutes when changing both bottle and case
formats.

“Our goal was also to make the equipment easy to operate and maintain, so we designed
Cermex EvoPack by embedding the latest Industry 4.0 technologies, to guide operators and
maintenance teams in their daily operations,” concludes Didier.

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