Ishida weighers quadruple packing speed

UK-based Stream Foods produces a popular range of fruit snacks. Increasing demand for its Fruit Bowl products meant that the factory’s existing weighers were struggling to keep up, so the company sought a solution that would deliver both the speed and accuracy it required as well as a rapid return on investment.

The company’s choice was a multihead weighing and packing line from Ishida, including a 28-head model from the RV series that is achieving 400 packs/min.

The CCW-RV-228 works in tandem with a 16-head RV model. The 28-head machine weighs primary packs from 16 to 30 g of fruit flakes, yoghurt-coated flakes and raisins and fruit shapes. The 16-head model counts these into groups of 5, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 20 multipacks.

Stream Foods' 16-head weigher (left) and 28-head weigher (right).

This combination is delivering 80 multipacks/min for five packs and has reduced the demand for the three remaining multihead weighers, which were linked to a counting eye, each of which was only capable of achieving 100 effective primary packs and 20 multipacks/min. These machines have now been redeployed to continue to add value on more specialist products where speed and output are less critical.

While quadrupling the speed of the packing operation, accuracy levels have also been improved. “Product giveaway is a cardinal sin and this is something we particularly wanted to address with this new installation,” explained Stream Foods’ factory manager Andy Spall. “Just half a gram overweight in a 20 g pack quickly amounts to a huge amount of free product over a single production run. With the Ishida solution, we are now constantly to within a tiny fraction of the target weight.”

In addition to the two multihead weighers, the Ishida solution included the supply of conveyors and a flighted elevator, and incorporated Stream Foods’ existing Ishida DACS-G checkweighers along with two bagmakers specified by the company.

Stream Foods' DACS checkweighers are used for small packs.

In addition, Ishida has supplied its IDCS II — Integrated Data Capture System — for the checkweighers, enabling Stream Foods to closely monitor its production and packing operation to provide early warning of any problems that could affect the overall speed and efficiency of the line.

Key to achieving the high speeds has been the effective interface between the 28-head weigher and the bagmaker. The weigher itself is split into four sections, each one delivering 100 packs/min and feeding two timing hoppers positioned above the twin bagmaker. For the bagmaker to keep up with the high speeds of the weigher, it is essential that each drop of product falls as a single slug rather than a long stream. To achieve this, the profile of the bagmaker former was adjusted to enable the timing hopper to sit as low as possible inside the former. This ensures that product falls as a unit and without touching the sides, which could also slow the discharge into the bag.

The new line now requires just five instead of six or seven operators, while delivering nearly four times the output over a 16-hour period than the previous weighers achieved in 24 hours.

Currently the multipacks are put into cases by hand but Stream Foods is in the process of automating this part of the operation as well, to create a fully automated line.

“Ultimately this line has made us far more efficient and for that reason we anticipate a fast payback on the investment,” concluded Andy. “Furthermore, as well as the speed and accuracy we needed, the line also gives us the flexibility to respond quickly to customer requirements, for example a special promotion, and also to be innovative in our product development. Indeed, new pack formats are already in the pipeline.”

Originally published here.