The Brazilian market is changing. An expanding middle class
is looking for added-value features in products which might previously
have been considered commodities. Santher is confident that the
time is right to enrich the country’s standard diet of single-ply
toilet tissue with a more luxurious two-ply embossed alternative.
Santher, one of Brazil’s leading tissue producers, has specified
an F88C 3.3 m embosser from Futura, part of the Faper Group, which
was built locally by fellow Faper Group company Joinpaper. The
new unit has been installed at Santher’s mill some 100 km
from Sao Paolo, and has micro- and macro-embossing capability.
In other words, it is capable of two heights of embossing, and
is nested with a colour facility, which gives colour to the embossed
logos using dyed laminating glue.
LANDMARK INSTALLATION
In choosing this technology,
Santher sought to confirm its product leadership in Brazil. The
Futura embosser is the first unit of its kind to be installed in
the country and has enabled Santher to relaunch its Personal product
range, instantly recognizable in Brazil with its rabbit or flower
logos.
Santher’s investment has been a boost for manufacturing efficiency
as well as product innovation.
The Futura embosser is designed to allow changes of embossing pattern
in 10 minutes. This is clearly the best-case scenario, demonstrating
what is possible, but Joinpaper managing director Alberto Bianchini
explains that “in practice,
changeover can be relied
on to take less than
half an hour. How much less depends on the individual situation,
but a changeover in less than half an hour certainly sets the standard
for the industry. This capability is down to a proprietary Futura
technology, and we are very excited about its potential for the
tissue business.”
The best run so far for the F88C is 630 m/min, with normal operating
speed 600 m/min.
MORE PROFITABLE
“It is important to innovate in the Brazilian market”,
explains Santher’s supply chain director Franciso Barel. “This
is not just a question
of market share; it is
also more profitable to produce a higher-value product. It had
become clear to us that the market was moving towards better quality.”
Brazil’s economic situation is improving, and the distribution
of the country’s wealth is getting better, which translates
into better purchasing power for products like tissue. The most
rapid changes are taking place in the north east and centre east
of the country, although the improvement is widespread. People
have more money and are looking to buy better products – in
terms of tissue, these products have not until now been widely
available in Brazil. The balance of cost and benefit is critical.
Brazilians want a better product, but they still want value for
money.
The relaunch of Personal was hailed as a great success. Barel attributes
this to a combination of strong distribution channels and a high
quality product at the right price. Santher’s Personal product
has a very strong image in the market, the company says, and it
was careful to retain the benefits of the brand’s high-recognition
levels and retain a level of familiarity within the innovative
new concept. The packaging of Personal has been totally changed,
taking advantage of a new printing system which allows the use
of more colours, including metallised options.
HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL
LAUNCH
The end result of Santher’s investment is highly visible – effectively
a brand new product in
brand new packaging.
Personal in its new guise is reported to have been highly successful
in the market. But it was thanks to a well-executed technical solution
and Santher’s
willingness to invest
in it that the vision
was brought to life, the company says. It was only because of the
technology that the product relaunch could be realised in a practical,
efficient manner. Barel explains: “Joinpaper
was very fast in terms
of development, and offered very good service. What clinched it
was their understanding of our individual issues as a company.
Technical back-up has been very good and they have shown great
willingness to meet our needs. The cooperation has also been helped
by the fact that our board here at Santher is very prepared to
invest in production and new technology.” TW
NEW
PAPER MACHINE
As reported in Tissue World May, Santher has ordered a new
tissue machine for its Braganca Paulista mill, due to start
up in the second quarter of 2009. This will be a DCT 100 machine
from Metso with trim of 2.7 m, operating speed of 1800 m/min
and capcity of 112 tons/day based on virgin pulp. |
