The Nordhackstedt cheese plant‘s capacity has been increased
by DMK to 35,000 tons
are planning to do with their own products in the market, so
that in the end the B2B and B2C horizons become blurred for us.
Today, the Industry BU is able to advise its customers on raw materials,
products, applications and markets, which for us means
quite simply that we have to “think outside the box.”
Everyone is involved
Change can only be achieved together and if all employees feel
involved. With employees as “the connecting ingredient”, the
division also shows to its customers the faces behind the business
unit. Godow reports a high level of loyalty and motivation
in the workforce, which has made work easier, especially during
the Corona crisis. Suddenly, in an unprecedented scenario,
raw materials had to be taken from one to a completely different
utilisation. Only with innovative thinking on the part of
the employees was it possible to achieve 15 to 20% increased
throughput on existing lines.
Investment in capacity, efficiency and flexibility
The investments described above add up to a double-digit euro
million amount. It was used to increase the production capacity
for mozzarella in Nordhackstedt to 35,000 tons, to build a new
drying tower in Beesten and to convert the semi-hard cheese
dairy at the Georgsmarienhütte site to mozzarella. Both cheese
plants are now flexibly equipped, also with regard to lactose
and salt content in the product, they can produce in several formats
and supply almost identical products. Production has also
been made more efficient by intelligently separating batches
so that the plant does not have to be continually rinsed. DMK
now has a mozzarella production capacity of 120,000 tonnes.
In 2019 it was more than fully utilised, in 2020 it was significantly
less due to market conditions, but Godow is also certain,
based on in-house market research, that the mozzarella market
will stabilise again in the coming years.
Particularly noteworthy suppliers were GEA with its mozzarella
technology (including air-cooling of the product) and Lübbers
Anlagen- und Umwelttechnik, which set up the drying pro-
Report ¦ IDM
The DMK plant in Georgsmarienhütte was converted into
a mozzarella cheese dairy
cess. Godow: “We carried out our conversions and extensions
pragmatically and used existing buildings. With a view to a quick
pay-back and the lowest possible investment, we were able to
proceed very efficiently.”
DVN integrated in record time
DMK streamlined its organisation with the acquisition of DVN
Nutrition in the Netherlands. All whey processing activities have
come under the wheyco umbrella, with DVN now operating as
wheyco Netherlands. The cooperation with Arla Foods in Nordhackstedt
called ArNoCo is now also assigned to wheyco. With
a throughput of five billion litres and a 180-strong workforce,
the subsidiary has thus become one of the world's largest processors
of (own) whey.
According to Godow, DVN was an established company in
the market with a high level of quality that was firmly anchored
in its customers' minds and therefore did not have to start from
scratch, but the integration into wheyco still posed a challenge.
This was achieved within only eight months, both in terms of
business processes and IT as well as on the customer side. The integration
of the new employees was also important here, which
was well achieved thanks to the established welcome culture in
the company. “I have never seen an integration process run so
quickly, efficiently and enjoyably,” confirms Godow.
January/February 2021 ¦ international-dairy.com · 7
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