Summer 2007
Jurjen Joosten, project manager for the Mongolian brewery explains:
"Having chosen a site in May of last year, we lay the building's foundation in
June and began construction in August. However, we only had a two month
window of opportunity to ensure the external construction was completed
and that the building was sealed." The Mongolian winter begins fairly early
and is extremely cold, with temperatures dropping to as low as 40 below
zero. "It was critical for us to have the structure built and sealed. If we had
missed our deadline, it would have meant a delay of around six months,"
says Joosten.
Thanks to carefully coordinated efforts between Heineken Supply Chain
Services and local civil engineering consultants, the external structure was
completed on time, allowing builders to continue with fitting the brewery
with equipment internally. "Considering the weather conditions in which we
operated, I would describe this project as a big success."
Heineken's greenfield brewery in Tunisia is another example of careful
planning and innovative construction. It is being fitted with equipment
sourced from brewing facilities in Latvia. In total, a brew house, fermenting
tanks, filtering and cooling equipment as well as a keg line have been
sourced from a brewery in the Latvian capital city of Riga. A steam boiler
and an air compressor have also been bought from the Netherlands.
"We were searching within Heineken as well as outside the company.
Finally, we found the high quality production equipment in a small brewery
in Riga," says Gep Mannak, Project Manager for the Tunisian brewery. "The
first class material has barely been used because when the Latvian brewery
went into production in 2001, the company didn't manage to sell enough
beer. So we're actually buying 'new' material for a bargain."
Equipment en route to Tunisia
