LAHORE: Tetra Pak Pakistan’s packaging material factory received the prestigious Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) Advanced Special Award for manufacturing excellence on Thursday. In doing so, it becomes the only factory in Pakistan to win this award. Appraised by the JIPM, the award is presented to facilities that have achieved outstanding levels of production quality, reliability, efficiency and environmental performance. “The stringent assessment processes cover the entire operation from the shop floor to the executive boardroom. The award can only be achieved by firms demonstrating a true company-wide commitment to production distinction,” Tetra Pak Pakistan Managing Director Jorge Montero said. Reiterating the significance of the award, factory director Mansoor Zaman stated, “This is the first factory in the country to reach this level of manufacturing excellence. We are extremely proud to establish a world class standard in the country which not only enhances the confidence of our customers to work with a reliable partner, but also identifies the potential of our employees to match the highest level of professionalism which can exist in the world.” In a recent visit to the Tetra Pak factory, Pakistan’s top journalists and reporters were able to view and assess the factory conditions themselves. The visiting press were pleasantly surprised to see such an advanced facility in Pakistan and were impressed with what they saw. Out of the 29 Tetra Pak packaging material factories currently in operation worldwide, 27 have received one or more TPM Awards. The TPM was introduced by JIPM in 1971 and is defined as the ultimate method of pursuing production efficiency. It is intended to encompass the entire company from the shop floor to the executive boardroom, creating a true company-wide commitment to production excellence and is designed to avoid any losses by creating a culture of ‘zero accidents, zero defects and zero breakdowns’. The JIPM award system judges the results of a plant’s activities and presents awards at five progressive levels: excellence, consistency and special, advanced special and world class. On average, it takes about 10 years for a plant to go from the first to the highest level. This is the largest Tetra Pak plant in the Middle East and is situated in the Sundar Industrial Estate (SIE), approximately 45 kilometres from Lahore; the Industrial Estate was developed by Punjab Industrial Estates (PIE), a company owned by the government. SIE has established different industrial zones at its premises; a dedicated food processing industrial zone is also available. These features compelled Tetra Pak to choose SIE for its Lahore plant. Construction began in 2008 and took two years for completion. Test production began in December 2010 and start-up was achieved in two months. The official inauguration was held in March, 2011. Tetra Pak’s old production facility in Lahore has since closed and all the production activity shifted to the new plant. The project required an investment of $128 million. PIE allotted 44 acres of land for the plant. It can manufacture a variety of cartons including some popular brands such as Tetra Brik Aseptic, Tetra Fino Aseptic and Tetra Classic Aseptic. Published in Daily Times, December 7th 2018.