End of line improvements help meet product demand

22 August 2016

UPM Conveyors has worked closely with Tims Dairy to deliver the necessary expansion required to meet demand. This called for investment into the end line to improve dispatch efficiencies.

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Tims Dairy, based in Chalfont St Peter, has been producing award winning yogurt for over 66 years. Today its range is available in selected branches of Asda, Budgens and Waitrose, as well as farm shops and speciality food shops, and online with Ocado.

After significant investment the company now have capacity to produce 200 tonnes per week made with fresh British milk and cream delivered daily. The milk is heat treated then combined with live and bio-live cultures to produce a range of Greek style, Wholemilk and Low Fat yogurts, all made with natural ingredients.

To cater for this expansion it was necessary to investigate methods of improving efficiencies and UPM Conveyors was consulted to provide solutions to the end of line yogurt pot tray packing and stacking into stillage’s to ensure a smooth transition of product ready for dispatch.

Together they designed a carousel with work stations that incorporated a central packed tray conveyor to allow operators to pack 150 pots per minute into trays which can then be transferred to a stillage via the central conveyor but the complete system needed to comply with stringent hygiene standards including full pressure wash down which meant that all construction was stainless steel with electrical controls rated to IP67.

The system was completed and personnel from Tims Dairy visited UPM for pre delivery inspection allowing the complete unit to be supplied on site ready for immediate operation into production.