Atlantic Tobacco & Merlin^®

Atlantic Tobacco Company Ltd. is a renowned manufacturer of cigarettes in the Arab region, which has been operating successfully in Sulaymaniyah/Iraq since its foundation in 2017. With a dedicated team of over 70 employees, the company produces cigarettes and supplies the Arab region, Africa and other countries. Production, three warehouses, accommodation and office buildings are located on the 16,800 m² company premises. Production takes place in a state-of-the-art factory, which is operated with cutting-edge technology and first-class work processes to ensure the highest quality standards. Maintaining a constant humidity level of 10 – 14 % in the production, packaging and storage areas is ensured by two ALPHA systems for direct room humidification from merlin^®.

Optimum humidity with merlin^® ALPHA for tobacco processing
The production of a cigarette is a high-precision process that requires the utmost care from the planting of the tobacco plants to the finished product. The tobacco leaves and cigarette paper in particular must be kept under ideal conditions throughout the entire manufacturing process. Maintaining optimum humidity in the halls, which are up to 14 m high, posed a particular challenge. Constant humidity is required to prevent the cigarette paper from tearing in the high-speed cigarette processing machines and the fine membranes of the tobacco leaves from drying out.

The infrastructure in Iraq is continuously improving, but electricity consumption still needs to be managed carefully as power from the socket is only available at certain times of the day. To ensure 24/7 production operations, the electricity required for the rest of the time comes from the company's own diesel generators.
"For this reason, we chose merlin^®, the leading provider of energy-saving adiabatic air humidification solutions. Thanks to the innovative technology from merlin^®, we can not only ensure optimum humidity, but also manage our energy consumption very well. The excellent cooperation with our key accounts Franz Schrems (merlin^® SalesForce), Vlado Vezenkovski (merlin^® service) and the merlin^® internal sales team rounds off the overall package. Their support has been instrumental in ensuring that our operations run smoothly and that we can always maintain the highest production standards," Hendrin Jaff, Managing Director of Atlantic Tobacco.