Ishida assists contract packing at -24ºC
17 July 2009
A new packing line for frozen foods, featuring an Ishida multihead weigher, has increased throughput while being able to cope with 800 products in various formats at contract packer Sivafrost
The line was devised and installed by Ishida’s Belgium agent BRN.
First established in 1986 providing refrigerated warehousing and other services, Sivafrost added contract packing to its portfolio in 1996, installing a packing line with a multihead weigher. By 2005 this equipment was no longer sufficient for the volume of products to be packed and the company decided to add a faster, more modern line.
The new line installed by BRN includes a lift/tipper for octabins serving a 3m3 feeding hopper, a vibratory feeder to take product from the hopper to the top of the multihead weigher, the weigher itself (a 14 head Ishida model) and the supporting steelwork.
The IQF products handled by the line range from herbs to potato waffles, with target weights from 50g to 3000g. To cope with all these, the weigher has a standard configuration, with ring gate, semiflat radial feeder troughs, 5 litre size anti-spillage pool and weigh hoppers and a beak-type timing hopper at the outlet.
The new system is coping well with the demands of contract packing. “We are very satisfied with the BRN- production line and with the integrated Ishida weigher,” comments Stign Siongers of Sivafrost. “We are achieving very high speeds which is most important for us.”
Sivafrost has a wide range of customers and can be called upon at short notice to handle any of about 800 different products in any of 20-30 formats. “The facility which the Ishida offers for storing so many programmes and product data as presets, so we can easily switch products, is a big advantage,” says Mr Siongers.
One of the trickiest things about low-temperature work is the tendency of product residues to stick to the weigher contact surfaces and then freeze on, meaning frequent cleaning of the equipment is required. A major advantage of the Ishida weigher is that contact parts can be easily lifted off and taken outside the cold area for cleaning. Special products are used for cleaning the non-contact parts at low temperatures.
The new line operates in a two-shift system. This means that for rush jobs, which are a frequent occurrence in contract packing, an extra shift or even two can easily be added. “Production has grown rapidly after the installation of the line. In fact, in 2007 our client database doubled,” concludes Stign Siongers.
“Where speed is an important factor, we use our Ishida line. Because of the efficiency of the system, our clients also profit, as we can offer lower prices.”
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