The Ontex Group NV, a provider of personal hygiene products, has been awarded Factory of the Future for its facility in Eeklo, Belgium.
The Factory of the Future award is given to production facilities that stand out with their future-proof operations.
The award was given by technology federation Agoria and Sirris, the collective centre of the technology industry in Belgium. It is the second time that Ontex Eeklo has received the award after previously winning it in 2016.
“Since winning the award in 2016, we have invested over €20m in making our Ontex Eeklo factory even more future-proof,” says Jef Monballyu, plant manager at Ontex Eeklo. “We are very pleased that our efforts have again been recognised by Agoria and Sirris, and we’re extremely proud to be considered an innovative and pioneering manufacturer in the hygiene industry.”
In order to become a Factory of the Future, a company must go through seven transformations. No less than 265 Belgian manufacturing companies have already started with at least one of those transformations, with the Factory of the Future Award reserved for the best performers.
Since winning the prize for the first time in 2016, Ontex Eeklo has focused on seven additional transformation paths to make the plant better equipped for the future. Investing in ecological production and sustainable innovation was identified as one of the key priorities in this regard.
Over the past few years, Ontex Eeklo has heavily increased the use of sustainable resources in its packaging process, among others by using sugar-based polyethylene. The facility has also raised the bar when it comes to recycling in the production environment and has implemented better tracking of the environmental impact of its products, using a sustainability scorecard.
Regarding energy consumption, Ontex Eeklo now runs on 100% green electricity, and will shortly finish installation of 8,500 solar panels. What’s more, the company has implemented a new digital monitoring system at the site to better track and reduce its energy use.
Digitalisation was another key transformation area for the plant. A lot of efforts have been put into creating a true Digital Factory, with Ontex Eeklo taking some important steps in digitising its technical analyses, quality management and local fleet management systems.
Another transformation that helped Ontex to win the Factory of the Future relates to the implementation of a Smart Production System, which optimises stock quantities and allows for a more efficient management and planning of stocks.
Finally, Ontex Eeklo has established many partnerships with a number of renowned universities across Europe. For example, Ontex Eeklo worked with the University of Valladolid in Spain to develop more absorbent product cores.
Ontex Eeklo has also teamed up with leading 3D printing companies to see how 3D-printing solutions can be implemented in the production process.
All of these initiatives fit into Ontex’s global improvement programme in terms of sustainability, the environment, energy and social responsibility.
