Unexpected delays can be significant for any food processing company, but for Nabil Foods, the largest producer of chilled and frozen food products in Jordan, running 24/7 to meet production schedules and deliver high quality, consistent products means there is no room for unplanned downtime.
JBT’s PRoCARE® Service Agreements are about making sure equipment and production performs to an optimum level, while minimizing downtime, and in recent years its focus on preventative maintenance has developed into a key component of Nabil Foods’ business.
Crucial support
Nabil Foods produces a high-end range of beef and chicken burgers, nuggets and ready meals, as well as desserts, which are supplied to retail and foodservice customers across the entire Middle East and North Africa region. The company has long worked with JBT, and in fact JBT has been Nabil Foods’ sole supplier of coating, frying, cooking and freezing equipment for more than 15 years.
However, having a JBT PRoCARE Service agreement in place has been vital in keeping the company’s 10+ production lines running 24/7, according to CEO Ahmed Sallakh. “We are very pleased with JBT and the direction of our partnership,” he said. “The machinery is performing at its best, but as important, is the support from JBT’s after sales service. We are able to run 24/7 because of JBT.”
With Nabil Foods currently achieving double digit sales growth, Mr Sallakh stresses that such support is crucial to ensuring production does not slow down, while maintaining the firm’s leading position in the market.
Preventative maintenance
In 2018, Nabil Foods was faced with several downtime challenges following postponement of the renewal for its PRoCARE service agreement with JBT. A lack of preventative maintenance led to a number of technical issues and breakdowns during the years, with the unplanned downtime starting to affect revenue. Nabil Foods renewed its PRoCARE agreement in early 2019 and has since seen unplanned downtime dropping by 48% compared with 2018, with worn parts being replaced before potential problems become a reality.
Mr Ahmed Hussein, Engineering Manager at Nabil Foods, said: “JBT has supported us with patience, knowledge and generosity to resolve an array of challenges we were facing and to continuously develop our equipment and internal engineering services. Fundamentally, they have become a key partner for our organization, and from my standpoint, I couldn’t have expected better.”