AIP NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2014 7

MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL SITE VISIT

C ol laborat ion…Open I nnovat ion…Shared knowledge…Intrapreneurship. These were just some of the phrases and methods discussed openly at the AIP’s Ringwood Site visit to Mondelēz

International’s latest R&D and innovation investment with the Victorian State Government…the Mondelēz International Food Innovation Centre (FIC).

Chaired by AIP’s Victorian Chairman Michael Grima MAIP, our second visit for the year was well attended by 55 industry members, covering a broad spectrum of brand owners, packaging manufactures, material and technology suppliers, design consultants and those keenly looking for ways to collaborate with like-minded individuals for their own innovative pursuits.

The honorable David Hodgett MP officially opened the center only last month however the FIC has been a hot- bed of activity for the past year. The FIC held its inaugural SME Innovation and collaboration workshop in mid October. This was the 4th Victorian event run by the ever- busy FIC team that is looking at fostering collaboration within the food and beverage industry. The induction tours are part of the team effort to build awareness and also future collaboration opportunities for the FIC.

Angeline Achariya, General Manager of the FIC, opened proceedings with a short but and informative presentation about the jointly funded Victorian Ggovernment and Mondelēz International initiative that is the FIC. Angeline touched on the 4 major pillars of the FIC’s remit – Building innovation best practice by enabling SMEs to be Asia export ready, encouraging open innovation opportunities through its innovation and collaboration workshops; through investment in world class innovation capabilities and facilities enabling the food industry to de-risk innovation; and the leadership and development of the Australian first Masters of Food and Packaging Innovation course.

This last point has already taken its first applicants with a view to full offering in semester 1 2015 and is being developed in partnership with the University of Melbourne, the AIP’s educational arm, as well as some of Melbourne’s most prominent food and manufacturing brands.

Upon wrapping up, the guests were split off into 3 groups and ushered around the three key areas of the FIC – The Virtual store, Sensorium and the 3D print and Design lab.

Our groups first pit stop was the Virtual store. This feature showed clearly the advancement since our last tour in March. Previously a small screen housed in a room a-joining the Design lab, this purpose built complex contained a widened amphitheater with well-spaced armchair’s befitting a Gold Class cinema housing 25 guests comfortably.

With a 9m curved screen, set well beyond peripheral view, we were presented with an impressive simulated view of the shopper experience. Mondelēz International’s Dean McKenzie took our group though the benefits of the virtual store as a way for brands to test impact new packaging ranges, adjust Planograms real-time and measure consumer behaviour scientifically by the use of Eye tracking software and heat mapping.

The rapid testing of packages extends beyond our shores with the ability to mimic convenience and big box store layouts found in major Asian cities and cane be custom built on request. By utilising the skill set within the 3D Design lab, users of the facility can have virtual models created via photographed samples mapped to 3D models or wallpaper and tagged with GS1 details to be transferred into a virtual environment. This allows targets consumer groups to be convened to measure the impact of new packaging in the aisles real-time via the eye-tracking system.

AIP NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 20148

This presents the food industry both SMEs and FMCG an excellent tool to fast-track development and de-risk via a ‘virtual prototype’ their designs impact at trade.

Moving on from here we entered the world of the ‘consumer-centric’ mind of the company’s Hollis Ashman. Hollis presented a table with various groupings of products to focus on aspects of the packaging hierarchy, structures and how we consumers interpret and interact with them. A short video was run focusing on how consumers battled with interpreting new resalable technology used in their standard chocolate family block.

This highlighted how merely adopting cutting edge technology was not enough to improve the consumer experience unless it was clearly communicated to the target in an intuitive manner. This QMA (Qualitative Multivariate Analysis) session– a consumer centric process, puts research into a behavioural and cognitive perspective and assists designers and marketers alike to develop more intuitive ways to measure consumer needs and emotional drivers.

From here Hollis took us through to their Sensory lab – a collection of small individual private white booths with dedicated IPad’s. These booths face internally a test kitchen and the devices are used to capture consumer’s sensory feedback across various product experiences with real time feedback to the insights team.

The last stop on our tour was the 3D Print and Design lab. Jam packed in this small space were 3 various types of 3D printing and prototyping technologies, a full size Kongsberg cutting table and a plethora of 3D Design tools mastered by the small but committed design team. The lab’s manager Caroline Francis took our tour through a short presentation touching on the value found in conducting store audits, personal profiling and symbolic research of various structures.

This then dovetailed into their design stage gate process of ideation, concept development, 3D CAD design and 3D Prototyping.

It’s all about speed and getting a tangible object into a users hands - to move from interpretation into a valuable insight so one can develop with confidence. As the teams motto goes – “it’s ok to fail…. just do it fast”!

Caroline’s design team of Nicholas and Sam then split our group up to go through the particulars of each of the 3 prototyping processes. Variation was highlighted between the color printed plaster epoxy models; high speed Makerbot FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) models; More durable Dimension Elite FDM models and finally the precision and flexibility of the Polyjet Objet 30 models. Their end-to-end capability was clearly shown with a brief introduction of their Australian first 3D Scanning systems and the flexibility and power of the Kongsberg cutting table that took precedence in the room.

The final wrap up was a return back to the impressive collaboration centre. This area housed not only the vVirtual theater but also a test kitchen, meeting rooms, private booths and collaboration break out areas and easily housed our guests plus visitors of Mondelēz International RD&Q team. Nicolas Georges, R&D Director of Premium Chocolate and Dairy AP, delivered a short wrap up encouraging the gathering to utilise this impressive facility to harness their own innovative agenda. Nicolas’ vision for this centre is to assist Victoria to become the pinnacle of Food innovation for Australia and a platform for export development into the Asian sector. A compelling challenge set to all present.

Feedback from various guests was of high praise. A promising sight was to see not only the broad spectrum of industries present but the deep discussions and networking post our formal session. It’s not often to see guests still mingling well over an hour past completion.

On behalf of the AIP I would like to thank Angeline and her FIC team for their impressive management of this large tour and allowing our AIP family a deeper insight into their business. Exciting is having this world-class facility on our doorstep to help local food businesses turn an Asian export opportunity into reality. For interest in using the services and facilities please feel free to contact Angeline Acharyia direct on angeline.achariya@mdlz.com

Michael Grima MAIP, Victorian Chairman of the AIP

MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL SITE VISIT

PUBLISHED WITH PERMISSION FROM MONDELEZ