Fine Bio: fans of block solutions

“Fine Bio is a hidden treasure. Our spring is surrounded by dense forests, the air is not contaminated, the mountains’ rocks give off a great number of vital minerals that are absorbed by our water – to put it in a nutshell: a second-to-none location,” says Shin Kwang-Yoon, CEO of Fine Bio. To meet its own high quality aspirations, Fine Bio makes rigorous use of a stringent monitoring process.

Another special feature is the sheer size of the production operation: “It’s true that with a workforce of about 60 we are a relatively small company, and yet we are the Number One on the Korean mainland in terms of water intake quantity,” relates a proud Jason H.J Yoon, Sales Team Manager at Fine Bio.

So as to put the necessary technical preconditions in place, those responsible at Fine Bio set out to identify a machinery vendor that was able to provide the requisite assistance with his know-how, experience and the right technology – and in the shape of Krones found the partner they had been looking for: “Krones enjoys an excellent reputation among water bottlers, and with its Korean subsidiary has a highly active team on the spot. We went in search of a compactly dimensioned, efficient solution – and this is precisely what the ErgoBloc is,” says Shin Kwang-Yoon.

For production start-up in 2016, Fine Bio invested in two lines, each of them featuring space-saving block technology both in the wet end and in the dry end. Two ErgoBloc L and D systems each work side by side, with one line producing, labelling, filling, packing and palletising only two-litre containers, and the other one 0.5-litre PET bottles. The client’s choice of block-synchronised lines was based on several reasons, as Production Team Leader Sung-ki Kim explains: “Our main criterion is a dependable production process, which is what our customers demand from us. At the same time, we had to make sure that the lines’ layout was compactly dimensioned, since due to our plant’s location on the mountainside space is at a premium. Krones’ ErgoBloc solutions met these two stipulations perfectly.” Together the two lines produce around one million bottles a day.

According to CEO Shin Kwang-Yoon, the ErgoBloc was the optimum solution, thanks to its small footprint and efficiency.
For production start-up in 2016, Fine Bio invested in no fewer than two lines, each of them featuring space-saving block technology both in the wet end and in the dry end. Line Number Three followed in 2018, identical in layout to the other two lines.
Due to the plant’s location on the mountainside, space is at a premium for Fine Bio, which is why the company has for its dry end, too, opted for the compact-size ErgoBloc D block solution, comprising packer, shrink tunnel, grouping system and palletiser.

Future expansion already factored into the equation

As early as in the factory’s construction phase, the owner Mr. Yoon Sang-Eok allowed for enough space to accommodate two more lines. And this expansion did not take long in coming: roughly twelve months had passed after production start-up when the decision was made to invest in a third line. This was because firstly Fine Bio had been able to establish its Mulhana water on the market within this short timeframe, and secondly the company fills not only its own brand, but also contract-bottles another seven brands.

Whereas up till then the focus had been on producing 0.5-litre and two-litre bottles, Fine Bio was meanwhile keen to keep all options open for the future. So one of the preconditions stipulated for Line Number Three was that it be able to handle not only round but square containers as well, in three different sizes at that. Maximised efficiency, a dependable production process and a compactly dimensioned layout – Fine Bio weighed up various alternatives, but in the end they opted for what was field-proven and well-known: “Krones won us over – and we’re very satisfied,” to quote Jason H.J Yoon, and Sung-ki Kim adds: “By reason of our positive experience both with Krones itself and the lines they supply, and not least due to the compact line layout, we opted for an ErgoBloc solution yet again in our third line.”

ErgoBloc was the optimum solution, thanks to its small footprint and efficiency. Erwin Hächl Shin Kwang-YoonCEO Manager