They came from all corners of Europe, invited by CFS to attend a special day filled with inspiration, knowledge and new insights. Renowned speakers from the United States and France explored the fascinating potential for innovation. CFS President & CEO, John-Ole Hansen presented a unique approach for optimising performance in accordance with the “Lifecycle Performance” philosophy. The practical application of this approach became cristal clear when the new CFS PowerPak^NT, the new standard for performance, cost efficiency, flexibility and hygienic design of thermoformers was unveiled. The guests were particularly impressed with the live demonstrations in the CFS Technology Centre, a factory on a practical scale, where CFS machines were operating on a continuous basis and produced a range of attractively meat, fish, chicken and cheese products packed in CFS Packaging Materials.

Top Speakers on Innovation

At the High-Tech campus in Eindhoven, two of the world’s leading speakers spoke about innovation and its impact on the business results. In his speech, "Rethinking the Future: Winning in the Innovation Economy", Rowan Gibson, of the United States looked at four forces driving the innovation economy: hyper-acceleration, hyper-competition, the new customer primacy and the increasing commoditisation of products, services and capabilities. The inescapable conclusion was that there is only one option left for creating new wealth, building new markets and driving future business in this difficult new competitive environment – and that is Innovation. He explained 4 perceptual ‘lenses’ which many innovators use to think along new lines, ask new questions and develop new perspectives. And showed how any company can use these ‘discovery tools’ to find new and unexploited opportunities for innovation.

Professor Dr. Isaac Getz, of France, emphasised the ‘considerable’ power of ‘small’ ideas. His message is ‘Idea Management’; something that every company should practice. Many innovations originate from customers. These customers often also have possible solutions in mind. They discuss these ideas with sales staff and personnel on the work floor. 80% of ideas originate on the work floor. However, employees only contribute their ideas if management is receptive to them. Good idea management stimulates employees to come up with innovative ideas and implement them.

The promise: Lifecycle Performance

The afternoon programme took place at the CFS headquarters in Bakel where President & CEO John-Ole Hansen clarified the ‘Lifecycle Performance’ philosophy: “We developed a new way of thinking about the future performance of production equipment and packaging materials as well as the associated operational costs. This is a strategic decision taken by CFS, which does justice to our reputation as a knowledge provider. Lifecycle Performance is our management philosophy, our driving force to offer customers the best there is. CFS works closely together with its customers to develop new food and packaging products. A needs and requirements package is jointly developed. Specifically focused on the customer’s needs, the most optimal solution is developed which results in an “individualised” machine, production line and/or packaging material. Once this is put into production, CFS continues to work intensively with the customer to control the variables that influence performance. This way, the lifetime of the machine is extended.”

CFS PowerPak^NT: a new definition of performance

The spectacular unveiling of the new CFS PowerPak^NT thermoformer fits right into the new CFS strategic direction. The machine concept, which was completely redesigned from top to bottom, responds to the current and future needs of the food industry and sets a new standard in performance, cost efficiency, flexibility and hygienic design. Enterprises no longer need to accept the limitation of one machine. (Almost) anything is possible with Lifecycle Performance technology.

The new CFS PowerPak^NT has been constructed in a logical and modular fashion, which provides it with the flexibility needed to respond to current and future requirements. Conversions or expansions are easy to implement and consequently provide a measure of investment protection that no other thermoformer in the world can provide.