Saltum & Neptun Bryggerier, which is best known for producing private labels of e.g. BIG, Baldur, Kvalli, apple and pear cider and the local brew of Saltum, is located in North Jutland, Denmark, between Blokhus and Løkken. The company employs a staff of little more than 100 people with a daily output of about a million soft drinks.

Required implementation of environmental management

Following its acquisition of and ownership of the brewery in North Jutland, Carlsberg wanted to implement environmental management to the ISO 14001 standard. The biggest challenge was that only six months were allocated to the project initiated in June 2004 with certification deadline in November 2004.

FORCE Technology was to help analyse the process required with the implementation of environmental management, for example, and an environmental manual, procedures, instructions and forms were to be prepared. Moreover, the employees were to be introduced to the areas of environmental management relevant to them, and management was to be involved in the preparation of policies, targets and action plans.

Saltum & Neptun Bryggeri is best known for producing private labels.

Detailed planning

Implementing these efforts within six months required a well-laid plan and a high degree of discipline. Therefore, FORCE Technology prepared a tight schedule with six project meetings, and with three to six elements for the final management system being reviewed at each meeting. Saltum & Neptun Bryggerier would then carry on the work of getting procedures, instructions and forms ready in between project meetings.

Once one element of the management system was prepared, the systems documentation was approved and the particular element implemented right away. When the gradual implementation was completed, the system was checked in an internal audit with enough time to correct any deviation prior to certification.

The certification was achieved as planned, and the company met its target of environmental certification within six months.

A new benefit for the brewery 

Although people in North Jutland usually do not display their enthusiasm, Saltum & Neptun Bryggerier acknowledges that the implemented environmental management already appears to be successful. It allows the brewery to target its environmental efforts and work more systematically with a streamlined documentation of its compliance vis-àvis authorities and neighbours.

Saltum & Neptun Bryggerier expected the introduction of environmental management to be a troublesome and difficult process, but once the tasks were underway, the anticipated difficulties were less serious.