A new French manufacturing plant for food supplements and dietetic products

6 months ago, Laboratoire PYC inaugurated its new production site in Ain (Manziat, France).
After 18 months of work and the recruitment of over 25 people, the teams revealed the new areas and the latest equipment.
An opportunity to take a look back at the project and at the 100% French industrial activity dedicated to food supplements and dietetic products.

A 100% French production

How did you manage the project?

Romain Chaintreuil, Plant Manager

The project lasted 18 months and we carried it out in 5 main stages:
– Stage 1: studying the factory plans and the equipment to acquire
– Stage 2: purchasing the equipment: a blender tailored to food supplements and protein powders, weighing rooms, etc.
– Stage 3: contracting service providers for the new building, recruiting staff
– Stage 4: working on the new building, integrating the new machines, recruiting more staff
– Stage 5: integrating employees, giving training and starting up officially.

We carried out this project in-house with multi-disciplinary teams supported by an engineering firm. Our managers worked in tandem on 3 themes: process, building and machine. The aim was to control decisions internally and to manage planning and costs as closely as possible. Other groups worked on specific projects (flows, waste, etc.). This helped to get the whole team involved in the project. We are proud of the work that has been done and of the commitment of the whole company to this industrial project!

What’s next?

Demand for food supplements is growing very strongly. Over time, the capacity of our blending facility is designed to absorb 30% more powder blending. In terms of human resources, we are working to train the production and packaging teams, to support new recruits in the company’s dynamic development and to redevelop the company’s values.

How does the new site meet the quality requirements expected in the food supplements and nutritional products market?

Laure Cassagnes, QHSE Manager

Firstly, our new manufacturing site takes into account the requirements of food safety and guidelines.

We have integrated these needs into both the building and the acquisition of new equipment.

In addition, our QHSE department took part in all the workshops to ensure that food safety, personal safety and environmental concerns were taken into account at every stage of the project.
We succeeded in achieving 0 lost-time accidents during the entire construction phase.

Our business is ISO 22000 certified and we are aiming for FSSC 22000 certification in the medium term.

What equipment have you invested in to support Laboratoire PYC’s growth as a subcontractor of protein products and food supplements?

Jennifer Perrin, Packaging Industrialisation Manager
Thierry Michel, Production Manager

In our new powder blending unit, we have integrated the latest-generation equipment:
– Air treatment (CTA) to control the temperature and humidity in the blending rooms.
– Weighing of powders (food supplements/protein powders): new laminar flow weighing cabinets for optimum operator protection and allergen management.
– Several handling aids to avoid carrying loads.

These 13 lines are dedicated to packing protein powders and food supplements. More specifically, the packaging formats are sachets, sticks, jars and stand-up pouches. We also put products into labeled boxes.

Besides, we have also introduced a number of environmentally-friendly solutions. These include reducing the amount of water used to wash tanks, using green electricity and reducing the use of chemicals. At the same time, we are working on sustainable packaging solutions.

Processes have evolved and been optimized with this new plant. Can you tell us more?

Cédric Carrière, Head of Operational Performance

Finally, we have built an IT interface between the information systems of Laboratoire PYC and our logistics partner in order to streamline data transfers such as receipts, shipments and stock management (batch numbers, use-by dates and quantities, etc.).

In this way, we have both concentrated the activity of our site on our know-how and optimized our process.