Ascent on Mount Fuji

In a new factory right on the slopes of Mount Fuji, Tomomasu fills more than 100 million bottles of premium sparkling water each year on two ErgoBloc L lines.

Mount Fuji is one of the most recognizable symbols of Japan. The 3,776-meter peak is the country’s tallest and famous for its graceful cone shape. Fuji is venerated as a stairway to heaven and the dwelling place of deities and ancestors.

And it is here, right at its base, that Tomomasu has built its new water bottling plant. The Japanese beverage company could hardly have chosen a more culturally significant site for filling its sparkling water. After all, Japan’s iconic mountain has been providing people with safe drinking water through a vast network of groundwater and freshwater springs for thousands of years. Rain and snowmelt slowly flow through a series of basalt layers, picking up natural minerals along the way. Besides the water’s outstanding quality, the site’s close proximity to Tokyo – less than one hundred kilometers – was another reason for choosing this location. After all, the company has a great task: to supply the world’s biggest city with sparkling water!

Buildings as far as the eye can see: 30 percent of Japan’s population lives in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
The factory on Mount Fuji covers 26,000 square meters. The production hall and warehouse are completely separate buildings connected by a road because the hilly geography of the place makes it unfeasible to build a single, large building at ground level.

Tomomasu is one of the oldest soft drinks producers in Japan, founded in 1902 by the great-grandfather of the company’s current president, Satoshi Tomoda. Now in its fourth generation of family leadership, Tomomasu is successfully marrying tradition and modernity. For example, the first beverage Tomomasu ever produced is still part of its portfolio to this day. That drink is the famously Japanese Ramune soda, made from carbonated water and lemon, lime and sugar flavorings and a particular favorite among kids.

Article 40536 — From Ramune soda to cider to ginger syrup, Tomomasu produces a wide range of products in smaller, frequently-changing batches in Kyūshū. Its sparkling water, on the other hand, is filled in the new showpiece factory on Mount Fuji.

Meanwhile, the product portfolio has grown by leaps and bounds and now includes more than 100 new beverages and varieties each year. This unfettered innovation is quite customary in Japan. Anyone seeking new beverage trends need only look to Asia. The beverage market is also extremely competitive. If a company wants to stand out from the crowd, they’re going to have to offer the right aromas and flavors – and they’ll need a strong intuitive sense of what consumers want. Tomomasu certainly has that. They’re number one for new products in Japan.

One of the many successful beverages that Tomomasu has brought to market is a beer for kids – non-alcoholic, of course. “Kidsbeer”, as it is called, gives young people an alternative to Ramune soda that lets them feel like they’re drinking beer just like the grownups. “Our mission is to give our customers a wide variety of options and to make disparate ideas reality,” says the company’s president Satoshi Tomoda. This example also shows that a tradition that great grandfather started with Ramune soda is being carried into the future by his great grandson.

Flavor meets innovation

This diversity is one of the factors behind the company’s success. However, Tomomasu’s growth over the past few years has primarily been driven by Satoshi Tomoda’s decision to expand its sparkling water production – both under its own brand and for other beverage companies. And that is where the new factory on Mount Fuji comes in.

One company, two locations

The site of Tomomasu’s headquarters and the company’s founding is not on Mount Fuji but rather on Kyūshū, the southwesternmost of Japan’s main islands. Both factories feature a small showroom with exhibits on the company’s product range, technology, and history. Tomomasu values sophisticated design and, equally so, sustainability: To the latter point, solar panels on the roof of the new production facility supply up to 20 percent of the electrical power used.

In its quest to find the best equipment to fill its sparkling water, Tomomasu approached Krones. The two companies had begun working together around ten years ago, when Tomomasu had Krones’ subsidiary Kosme install some machines. That experience established the company’s trust in the technology. For this latest order, Tomomasu was seeking not only high-quality machines but also a compact, space-saving line. As you might imagine, space on Mount Fuji is limited and very expensive. “So it made sense to rely on an expert who is able to combine the machines to optimal effect”, says Satoshi Tomoda. And that is where the Krones ErgoBloc L came into play. What makes this bundle of efficiency special is that the blow molder, labeler and filler are directly connected, without any conveyor segments between them. This block configuration gives the ErgoBloc L an exceptionally small footprint.

The intelligent combination of proven machinery in the ErgoBloc L produces a space-saving, fully integrated line.
3 in 1: blow molding, labeling and filling happen back-to-back in sequence.

So it made sense to rely on an expert who is able to combine the machines to optimal effect. Erwin Hächl Satoshi TomodaManaging director of Tomomasu

Two turnkey lines on a small footprint

The choice of location, at the foot of Mount Fuji, was innovative, as was the decision to install a turnkey line from Krones. That’s because turnkey solutions are not very common in Japan – and only very rarely are they sourced from foreign companies. And Tomomasu ordered not just one but two identical ErgoBloc L lines from Krones. The first one went online in June 2020, with the second following in September 2022. The one line fills 22,500 half-liter bottles per hour, while the second rolls out 18,000 one-liter bottles per hour.

Here’s how it works: The PET bottles are produced by the Contiform stretch blow molder, then labeled and, finally, filled. The labeler is a Prontomodul, while a Modulfill VFS takes care of the filling. The entire sequence is fast and efficient.

Smart factory design: Packing and palletizing take place over two levels to save space.
Each carton contains either 15 or 24 bottles.

And speaking of personnel: they, too, benefit from the turnkey concept. All of the touch panels are the same, so it’s easy to work with all of the different machines.
As a result, each line requires just four people: one operator each for the wet end and dry end, one who switches between the two areas, and one person who bears overall responsibility for the entire line.

A wellspring of success

The two new lines have enabled Tomomasu to ensure variety not only in its soft drinks but also in its water. And that gives the company added flexibility. Four or five different products are manufactured here each day. Besides plain sparkling water, these include water that has been enhanced with aromas such as lemon, grape or rose hip. One thing that sets all of the water varieties apart is their high carbonation content, at ten grams per liter.

Article 40528 — “It has paid off to put our trust in turnkey solutions.” Satoshi Tomoda, President of Tomomasu

“It has paid off to put our trust in turnkey solutions,” says Satoshi Tomoda. Tomomasu has had an excellent experience with the two ErgoBloc lines and now fills more than 100 million bottles per year on Fuji. With the two new filling lines, the company has also grown – quite impressively in fact. In the year 2000, when Satoshi Tomoda took the helm of the company, it had just 20 employees and annual revenue of 1.3 million euros. Today, Tomomasu’s payroll stands at 200 and annual revenue has grown to 130 million euros. But that doesn’t mean the company president is ready to sit back on his laurels. As Satoshi Tomoda knows, “Japanese consumers are exacting, and they expect us to continually bring out new drinks varieties.” That’s why the development team for new products in Kyūshū will soon be complemented by a second team at the Mount Fuji site. And when it comes to technology, the company intends to work with Krones to continue to evolve and grow.

#Water #PET #Filling #Packaging #AsiaPacific

Gitta Rohling

21. August 2024

6:25 min.

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