Specialist Products And Services For Food Manufacturing: Find Out More On These Companies' Stands

When one of the UK's leading suppliers of speciality nuts, dried fruit and confectionery to independent retailers, manufacturers and multiples, needed a system which would break up 25kg blocks of raisins and feed them into the production line, it turned to Concept Engineering was approached to see if a solution was possible. (See Concept Engineering FoodManufacturing.Live on stand 82)

After analysing the production system Concepts engineers designed and built a robust solution which met the standards and specification required. It was designed to provide a range of flexibility in product sizes and improve efficiency.

With a wealth of knowledge and understanding of processes, Concept Engineering designs, builds and installs bespoke, innovative and effective solutions. The company handles projects for clients across an array of industry sectors and has particular experience and expertise in the food, fish, manufacturing, medical and pharmaceutical sectors.

For this project Concept Engineering was able to provide a full solution including agitator and conveyor system designed specifically for the clients dried fruit process. The Concept agitator system allowed the client to process a 25kg block of raisins every seven seconds.

The new system has speeded up production and produced significant savings in labour costs.

Sensors for applications where absolute hygiene is crucial

Hygiene-sensitive production and packaging processes require sensors that meet the most stringent requirements. Leuze makes this possible with sensor series intended for the food industry and with its many years of application know-how. (See Leuze at FoodManufacturing.Live on stand 80)

With its new miniature sensors in stainless steel housings, Leuze fulfils all the important requirements of the food industry: chemical and thermal resistance, leak tightness and a hygienic product design. Protection classes such as IP67, IP68 and IP69K as well as ECOLAB, CleanProof+ and JohnsonDiversey certifications confirm that the devices operate properly at all times even in extremely harsh environments.

Leuze has specially developed the 53C and 55C sensor series for hygiene-sensitive applications. They are characterised by the housing made of high-quality, particularly smooth V4A stainless steel and the glass-free, scratch resistant optics cover. The sensors can thus withstand demanding cleaning and disinfection cycles as well as large temperature fluctuations.

Leuze has developed the sensors of the 53C and 55C series especially for hygiene-sensitive production and packaging processes. They can be used very flexibly as through beam photoelectric sensors, retro-reflective photoelectric sensors or diffuse sensors. Depending on the model, Leuze solutions reliably detect glass, PET, film or small parts. The fill level of aqueous liquids can also be easily detected.

The 53C and 55C sensor series are dustproof and waterproof and meet the requirements of protection classes IP67, IP68 and IP69K. The housing is consistently designed to prevent bacterial carry-overs and contamination. Smooth contours without fastening holes prevent deposits. A special fastening concept of the 53C series in hygienic design also contributes to this the sensor and the machine have a gastight connection via the mounting trunnion.

Drives for food and beverage industry conveyors

The decentralised NORDAC ON frequency inverters from Nord Drivesystems have been specially designed for the requirements of horizontal conveyor technology. The NORDAC ON PURE in wash-down design features the nsd tupH surface treatment and is the right choice for applications in the food and beverage industry, especially when it comes to high hygiene requirements. (See NORD DRIVESYSTEMS at FoodManufacturing.Live on stand 32)

The NORDAC ON frequency inverter is characterised by an integrated multi-protocol Ethernet interface, IIoT capability, full pluggability and a compact design. Being part of the NORD modular system, they can be ideally combined with the manufacturers gear motor portfolio. The series comprises three variants: NORDAC ON for the operation with IE3 asynchronous motors, NORDAC ON+ for the combination with the highly efficient IE5+ synchronous motor, and NORDAC ON PURE in wash-down design.

The NORDAC ON PURE SK 35xP has been specially designed for conveyor applications in the food and beverage industry requiring powers up to 1.5 kW. The wash-down design with round and smooth surfaces allows for quick and easy cleaning thanks to protection class IP69, this is also valid for demanding requirements. The nsd tupH surface treatment offers efficient corrosion protection.

To further reduce the cleaning effort, the required connections have been reduced to a minimum number of high-performance plugs for the connection of hybrid cables via a one-cable solution. The inverters are suitable for direct motor mounting or for wall mounting. Several inverters can be easily connected via daisy chain.

All frequency inverters in the series NORDAC ON, NORDAC ON+ and NORDAC ON PURE have a temperature range of -30 C to +40 C and are therefore also suitable for deep-freeze applications.

Since the NORDAC ON drives feature a wide speed and adjustment range, they allow for the reduction of variants, for example in large intralogistics systems. It is therefore possible to cover the required torques and speeds in a system using as few different drive variants as is economically feasible, and to optimise the total cost of ownership.

Robotics in the food and beverage industry

The demands are equally high within both the food and the beverage industries. Regardless of whether its milk or beer, products need to reach the market fast. ABB's robots are flexible, fast and adaptable even when it comes to strict hygienic demands. They are designed and built to suit all aspects of different processes within food and beverage industries to serve the customers in their efforts to increase productivity and optimise the end product quality. (See ABB Robotics at FoodManufacturing.Live on stand 117)

As an example, in a recent project Belgium's largest pork producer has installed ABB robots as part of a Just-in-Time order fulfilment system that delivers customized products to supermarkets more quickly.

A large supermarket chain wanted its meat product supplier Westvlees to take on the logistics and distribution of products to stores and reduce delivery time. To achieve this, Westvlees needed to reduce lead time from customised order to delivery from 48 hours to same day delivery while labelling and sorting orders for individual stores.

A fully automated robotic system brings the unlabelled, packed products from production to an intermediate buffer using the white stock principle, in which generic stock is held temporarily until required to fulfil a customized order. Using order information, the white stock is buffered to ensure minimal transit time. On receipt of a customised order, the products are automatically taken out of the buffer.

The products are unloaded from trays by ABB FlexPicker robots. The products are labelled to meet the needs of individual supermarkets and then sent to the customers depot for crossdocking, where products are unloaded and sent directly to their destinations without putting them into storage first.

Complete automation solutions

Based in Plymouth, Applied Automation designs, manufactures and delivers the complete solution for automation and control, offering customisable and bespoke options. (See Applied Automation at FoodManufacturing.Live on stand 42)

The engineering division of Applied Automation supports the food and beverage sector with a wealth of amassed experience on a wide range of system types, from the classic PLC/SCADA, through to drives, motion control, vision and data collection. The company's experience in providing control systems for the food sector includes a client base of international, market-leading businesses.

Another division of Applied Automation is X-STK, which offers a range of automation and control components, with next day delivery on global brands, including Omron and SMC, with technical support, application trials and training from automation and control engineering experts.

Obsolete spare parts

Of course, food manufacturing can't just be all about brand new machines and processes. There is legacy equipment to support as well. Rokholt Group is a leading supplier of obsolete spare parts, dedicated to meeting the unique needs of its customers worldwide. (See Rokholt Group at FoodManufacturing.Live on stand 31)

Rokholt's team of highly-skilled professionals boasts exceptional experience and expertise in the industry to provide large global manufacturers with the parts they need, when they need them.

The company specialises in sourcing and supplying obsolete parts from a vast array of different manufacturers and brands, providing cost-effective solutions tailored to the requirements of the customer. This involves great flexibility in responding to customer needs, providing fast and reliable service, competitively priced and customised to customer orders.

Intelligent handling for food and drink applications

Indeva understands that in addition to the usual high standards expected from its food handling solutions relating to reliability and quality, there are additional requirements to meet strict hygiene standards. Indeva's manipulators can be designed and manufactured to fulfil these requirements. (See Indeva at FoodManufacturing.Live on stand 93)

Examples of food and beverage industry handling solutions the company has provided including transporting beer kegs and barrels in a warehouse environment: here, the Liftronic Easy provides customers with an ergonomic handling system. The operator can move heavy beer kegs and barrels with natural, intuitive and time effective movement. The Liftronic Ease provides very precise product positioning using electronic control, supplemented if necessary with pneumatic functions to provide, for example, inclination and rotation.

Another application is the handling of wine bottles, which Indeva makes possible using a manipulator complete with a purpose designed multi cup vacuum gripper capable of holding up to 30 or more bottles at the same time. The glass bottles are handled gently and precisely, without any risk of impact. The suction cups are designed and placed to hold the bottles either on the base or the side.

Indeva has also developed handling solutions for both hard and soft cheese. The Liftronic Easy model enables hard cheese blocks to be handled by means of a vacuum gripping tool applied to the standard tool head. A rotation device is then used for turning the cheese block by 90. Soft cheese is handled by means of a simple stainless steel hook attached to the outer sack. The company has also solved the transporting and storing of whole hams using the Liftronic Easy: the manipulator can be equipped with a hook or special tool for handling whole ham joints.

Reaping the benefits of machine vision

Machine vision has a key role to play in the automation of processes in the food and beverage sector, enabling control systems to see. Whether you're a manufacturer developing a vision system from scratch, or an end user looking to source a complete system, the team at Clearview can provide you with invaluable experience and support to help deliver the system you need. (See Clearview Imaging at FoodManufacturing.Live on stand 35)

Clearview takes the industries best products and combines that with over 100 years of collective experience in machine vision to deliver the solution you really need. The company's team is technically experienced and their impartial, consultative approach is aimed to carefully and fully understand your requirements. This enables Clearview to help you make the best choices possible for your application.

Aside from development capabilities, Clearview also works to expand its customers knowledge of machine vision technology, regularly offering training days and seminars, in which it delivers informative training sessions in the latest machine vision technology and techniques.

Essential production equipment

With 40 years of expertise, SYSPAL is a specialist in designing and manufacturing hygienic stainless steel and aluminium products for the food sector. (See SYSPAL at FoodManufacturing.Live on stand 60)

The company prioritises design, craftsmanship, and outstanding customer service, offering a diverse range of production equipment, furniture and handling solutions to enhance efficiency and elevate production standards.

SYSPAL provides bespoke product development services for tailored solutions, and its factory-based installation teams ensure professional project implementation and prompt after sales service.

Food and beverage resin flooring

In any work in improving or modifying the factory space, the flooring should be a key consideration. And in food and beverage facilities in particular, several factors need to be considered, as the experts at Acrylicon explain. (See Acrylicon at FoodManufacturing.Live on stand 114)

Key factors to consider include:

Slip resistance - To ensure workers are safe in, what can be, a fast-paced environment.

Sanitation - An easy-to-clean solution.

Bacterial control - A system that limits the growth of bacteria.

Efficiency - Flooring that can be installed with minimal disruption to your processes.

Aesthetics - A professional look and feel.

Acrylicon says its resin flooring will outlast and outperform anything else in the market. The company manufactures, supplies and installs high-strength resin systems made in its own factory. By not selling off the shelf and using its own fully trained installation teams, Acrylicon says it can offer a 10-year non-split performance warranty, a 2-hour full cure, a lifetime guarantee against delamination and the highest compressive strength for complete peace of mind

Further, you have the option to install your Acrylicon system to both walls and floors, ensuring full protection against bacteria, slips and other hazards synonymous with food and beverage facilities. Intricately designed and boasting outstanding compressive strength you get a solution that is not only designed to repel bacteria, but one that can be cleaned with ease.

Packaging machinery solutions

Choosing the right flow wrapper for your business is an important decision. As a leading supplier of Fuji packaging solutions, the experts at Paramount Packaging have compiled the key factors that make its flow wrappers stand out in a crowded marketplace. (See Paramount Packaging at FoodManufacturing.Live on stand 108)

Speed and efficiency - Paramount Packaging prides itself on offering cutting-edge machines that are built for speed, efficiency and productivity. Where significantly higher speeds are required, the company recommends Fujis rotary flow wrapping systems, with capabilities in excess of 1,000 packs per minute. For example, the Fuji FW3401/HS High Speed Candy Wrapper is designed for high-speed packaging of bite-size products at speeds of up to 1,500 packages per minute, whilst the high speed box motion FW3410B can wrap products up to 130mm long at 400 packs per minute hermetically sealed!

Sustainable - In a world where sustainability is becoming increasingly important, Paramount's flow wrappers help by reducing material waste and being energy efficient, aligning your packaging process with eco-friendly practices. The company offers easy-to-use recyclable, biodegradable and compostable materials, further lessening the impact on the environment

Customisation and versatility Paramount's flow wrappers are compatible with various pack styles, including: gusseted, pillow, recloseable, block bottom gable top, flow bag and linked packs. The company offers tailored solutions with various models available in a range of different sizes and configurations to manage specific customer and product requirements and with handling systems and peripheral equipment to suit all applications.

Intuitive and user-friendly - The flow wrappers are designed with the user in mind, featuring a highly intuitive interface, providing simple access to operation controls, time saving diagnostics and production data.

Reduce downtime - The flow wrappers are made from hygienic stainless steel for easy cleaning, which saves time and reduces downtime. Product changeovers are quick, easy and done with a minimum of material wastage.

Longevity - Built to last, the flow wrappers are made with high-quality materials that withstand the test of time and the rigours of constant operation. This means less downtime for maintenance and a longer life for the machine. Paramount reports that it still has many wrappers in the market today that are in excess of 30 years old.

High quality results - The technically advanced flow wrappers feature intelligent temperature control systems, allowing for consistent pack quality. This results in aesthetically appealing packaging that prevents damage and ensures the longevity of the product, further reducing waste.