Monday, 01 July 2013 14:51

Winter spruce-up in full swing

Written by 

More than 900 Fonterra manufacturing site staff are taking part in New Zealand's biggest annual winter maintenance spruce-up.

Many of Fonterra's 27 sites around the country are getting scrubbed up over 10 weeks, as milk flows have dropped off, allowing maintenance to take place.

Brent Taylor, director of NZ operations, says the cooperative undertakes maintenance every year to keep the sites match-fit to seamlessly process more than 17 billion litres of milk annually.

"Typically we produce around 2.4 million metric tonnes of product a season, running our driers, at times, at full capacity. To sustain and grow these production levels we have to maintain our equipment to the highest standards.
"Winter maintenance is all about getting off to a good start for the next season. It ensures that we continue to meet the demand from our customers and deliver our products on time."

Trevor Bell, maintenance coordinator at Te Rapa, says the work Fonterra does during this period sets the tone for the following season.
"Winter maintenance is our opportunity to set up the plant for the season ahead so it can run at maximum efficiency without unforeseen downtime which can cost us in lost production. Thorough maintenance also allows us to extend the life of our equipment."

This year more than $70 million is being spent on maintenance around New Zealand, with the majority going to the cooperative's high capacity sites Whareroa (Taranaki), Edendale (Southland), Clandeboye (Southland) and Te Rapa (Waikato).
To get the job done, more than 170 companies, big and small from around the country, will work together employing more than 620 contract staff from around New Zealand.

The work undertaken during winter maintenance will range from major capital works to minor valve and floor repairs.
Taylor says all staff or contractors that work on Fonterra's sites receive a safety induction to ensure they feel safe carrying out their work.
"Safety is our highest priority at Fonterra and we take every step to ensure everyone who works on site returns safely home at the end of each day," says Taylor.

More like this

Aussie farmers get A$8.60/kgMS as opening milk price

Australian dairy farmers supplying Fonterra are getting an opening weighted average milk price of A$8.60/kgMS for the new season or around NZ$9.26/kgMS -  NZ74c less than New Zealand suppliers, based on the current exchange rate.

Featured

LIC Space folds for good

Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.

Editorial: Time for common sense

OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).

National

DairyNZ Farmers Forum underway

Over 300 farmers and rural professionals have gathered in Hamilton for the first DairyNZ Farmers Forum for this year.

Machinery & Products

Shearing legend hooked on CanAm

Sir David Fagan, world-renowned competitive sheep shearer with 642 shearing titles worldwide and a knighthood to his name, now runs…

50 years of tractor pull

This year, the Fieldays Tractor Pull, in association with PTS Logistics, mark a major milestone – 50 years of crowd-thrilling…

The Wrangler's birthday bash

It's the Wrangler Limited’s 30th birthday and to celebrate the milestone a prototype of the E Series Wrangler - a…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Free speech

OPINION: The Free Speech Union is taking this one too far.

Drug survey

OPINION: New national data from The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), a leading workplace drug tester, shows methamphetamine (meth) use is…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter