New plant breaks record
Fonterra's newest plant, Studholme, has notched up a record in daily milk powder production processing 924 metric tonnes (MT) of whole milk in a week.
At peak, the site's drier usually processes 900,000 litres of milk per day, converting 625 litres of milk into about 260kg of milk powder every minute.
Fonterra Studholme site manager Alan Maitland said during the recent record week, the drier operated 24 hours per day with no downtime.
"The record is an outstanding achievement and testament to the hard work of the 45 staff at the plant.
"Our drier was only designed to produce five MT per hour and we have managed to run it at 5.5MT per hour. This comes down to team work, skill and the meticulous planning prior to commencing production this season."
Since its integration in August into Fonterra's supply chain, the site has been Halal-certified and met all Fonterra's quality standards.
Studholme produces standard whole milk powder for sale on the Global/DairyTrade platform and the relatively small size of the drier means the plant is also suitable for short and specialised manufacturing runs.
Fonterra acquired the Studholme operation in September, following a successful application to the Commerce Commission.
The site, previously owned by New Zealand Dairies Limited, became Fonterra's 27th processing factory, the 11th in the South Island.
As part of the purchase arrangement, Fonterra operated the plant from the beginning of the new season (August 1), ensuring farmers could sell their milk from the start of the season.
