Where do you believe the world's most modern fluid milk plant would be situated?
The U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia or in one of the nation's of Europe would all be fair answers to the question posed above.
Those answers would all be incorrect.
After a tour of Vinamilk's newest facility located in the Binh Duong province of Vietnam, we would clearly place it as our first nominee for modern plant design and a shining example of efficiency. Part of that efficiency is ensuring milk quality in the hot and humid weather conditions, which prevail in the Southeast Asian nation.
Constructed in partnership with Tetra Pak, headquartered in Sweden, the Vinamilk facility manufactures milk to the same specifications that the Food and Drug Administration and USDA would place on U.S. dairy processors. At the plant's grand opening in April 2013, it was on pace to produce 105 million gallons of milk annually. With a recent expansion, that number has doubled to 210 million gallons. This entire process is completed with less than 200 employees on a campus covering roughly 50 acres.
A number of factors make the plant far more modern than just about every facility found throughout the world:
- The processing facility is equipped with advanced centrifugal technology that eliminates bacteria from raw milk at the highest rate possible. Ultra-high temperature processing (UHT) further renders any remaining bacteria harmless.
- A central computer system, with eight computers and four technicians, controls every step in the process. Robotics move sterilized paper and plastic into filling machines. At the time of our visit, about 25 cartons of milk were moving through a single line every 10 seconds.
- Robotically driven pallet machines deliver electronically coded products to the intelligent warehouse.
- The factory's "intelligent warehouse" system was the first in Vietnam. The warehouse, situated on 15 acres, has 20 dispatching and receiving lanes. The massive storage facility contains 17 floors of shelving.
As for the future, Vinamilk has some lofty goals, which we believe it could attain.
"Vinamilk currently ranks fourth on the Forbes's Vietnam list of the top 500 companies," said Nguyen Quoc Khanh, executive director of production, research and development for Vinamilk. "By 2017, it is our goal to become a top 50 dairy company in the world."
To learn more about Vinamilk, click the link.
Also, to view related items to the recent U.S. Dairy Export Council Trade Mission to Southeast Asia, follow these links:
- Milk in a chewable tablet
- Milk is a valued treasure
- U.S. is making inroads in dairy product sales:
- TPP approval could employ more U.S. cows
- Vietnam, from 91st to 12th in just 20 years
- Protein, protein, protein is trending
- Southeast Asia employs many U.S. dairy cows
(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2015
May 11, 2015
