Safety first, then efficiency. That’s how Safeway makes packaged ice cream and frozen novelties at its plant in Bellevue, WA. Lean manufacturing principles guide the business.
As we put together this enormous January issue, the Food Engineering staff was also putting the final touches on the program for the 2013 Food Automation & Manufacturing Conference (FA&M), scheduled for April 12-15 in Naples, FL.
The tea bag’s image can use some polishing, and what better way than to create a championship competition where the winners use an alternative to the standard flat-pack tea bag?
What Mars did for M&Ms, digital printing is doing for beer and other products in customizing and personalizing products, though US converters are just beginning to tap those capabilities.
When the 2012 Farm Bill stalled in the US House of Representatives this fall, dairy processors doubled down in their opposition to a key provision—the Dairy Market Stabilization Program, under which the government could act to keep milk prices from falling below certain levels.
Fristam Pumps announced the addition of Zach Suardini as an application engineer. He will be responsible for providing in-house and in-field technical support and customer service.
Incorporating scribing laser technology and large marking fields, the Videojet 3020 entry-level, 10W CO2 laser coder marks and codes paper, cardboard, plastics and other materials.
Designed for the bakery industry, the servo-driven Unifiller multi-station piston depositor can be used with stiff batters, batters with particulates, heavy cake mixes and liquids such as egg, custard and tres leches milk; it also handles light mousses or chunky fillings without breaking the pieces down or causing damage.
Providing comprehensive control across complete machines, the Control Techniques Unidrive M800 manufacturing automation drive utilizes the CoDeSys programming environment with standard IEC 61131‐3 programming languages and standard Ethernet for communication across drives, I/O, HMIs, PLCs and other industrial devices.
The Quadro Model HV Series inline emulsifier/wet mill provides high-shear energy and precise process scaling from lab formulation to pilot testing and full production processing.
Engineered for the partitionless packing of products made with glass, aluminum, PET or other materials, the Standard Knapp 939 Versatron servo case packer with soft-placement module reduces the amount of material in packing.
Designed for food and beverage processing and packaging companies, Cubic Designs food-grade platforms meet the requirements for sanitary design and good manufacturing practices, as designated by AIB International.
The Tapeswitch multigate SCU-1 control unit monitoring system guards machinery where monitoring for a guard is required but locking is not; it monitors up to 30 HE Series interlock switches.
The Ross Model CDA-30C portable dual-shaft mixer has a working capacity of 10 to 30 gal. An air/oil hydraulic lift raises and lowers the agitators, 3hp 2-wing anchor and 5hp high-speed disperser.
Engineered for package handling, the Intralox ARB pallet layer former provides flexibility for creating customized pallet layer patterns for a variety of package types.
With load cells that measure the delivery of each ingredient, the Heat and Control FastBack blending conveyor maintains a blend accuracy better than 1.5% per constituent, depending on the product.
The GEA Procomac aseptic dual filling system is used for bottling high-/low-acid still beverages that have pulps, fibers and pieces of fruit or cereals; it is also suitable for products with densities that do not allow the consistent distribution of the pieces.
The Siemens Sinamics S120 drive system includes Profinet, Ethernet TCP/IP and EtherNet/IP connectivity for single-plant network industrial Ethernet communication.
The Schneider E3 ROBOX robotic palletizer provides a portable robotic end-of-line palletizing solution, handling multiple SKUs, often without any mechanical changeover.
Klüberfood NH1 CH 2 Plus synthetic high-temperature chain oils provide reliable lubrication at high temperatures and high oxidation stability for optimized relubrication intervals.
Rexroth compact, lightweight Advanced Valve AV03 valve systems can be positioned close to acutators, allowing the decentralized arrangement of pneumatics.
Capable of meeting the demands of heavy-duty conveyor systems or any large shaft mount application, Boston Gear 752 size worm gear speed reducers have hollow output shafts with a 5.25-in. center distance and an output torque up to 12,250 lb.ft.
With its sorting, accumulation and directional change capabilities, the Eaglestone Series 1600 washdown, sanitary turntable is intended for the food manufacturing, bottling and canning industries.
The JBT FoodTech DSI J-Scan inline product scanning system sends corrective feedback upstream from the inspection process to DSI portioning or slicing systems.
ITW Muller Octopus “S” automatic rotary ring stretch wrappers have a load stabilizer, load lift conveyer and No Touch No Tail seaming device, an alternative to heat seal pads or wipe down systems.
A fully automatic, recipe-driven hot melt applicator for roll-fed labeling, the B & H glue extrusion system produces void-free glue patterns while eliminating vacuum drum re-padding.
Utilizing an intense pulse of full-spectrum light emitted from a xenon lamp, the Claranor pulsed-light sanitation system destroys microorganisms through the photochemical effect of the ultraviolet spectrum and the photothermal effect of the intense flash of the visible spectrum.
Able to achieve a maximum combination speed of 30 packs/min., the Yamato TSDW-205 semi-automatic tabletop combination scale combines and discharges products as one group; it selects an optimal combination closest to the target weight and discharges it automatically.
Used for high-speed picking, packing, cartoning and kitting applications, the Yaskawa delta-style Motoman MPP3 robot operates at a rate of 150 cycles/min.
A fully automated system that applies and torques closures onto containers used in the food industry, the BellatRx Magna Capper capping system works with containers up to 8-in. wide by 16-in. high or 8 in. in diameter by 16-in. high and for closures from 22 to 120mm at speeds up to 60cpm.
Capable of case erecting at speeds over 30 cases/min., the A-B-C Model 330HS case erector utilizes a liftoff case feed with a self-adjusting indexing mechanism that runs warped or band-marked cases.
The Oden platform for complete turnkey liquid products packaging lines helps manufacturers avoid critical integration issues when the process is attempted at the plant level.
Designed to be used with a range of light-weight, smaller-sized and unusual-shaped high-value packages, the Mettler-Toledo Hi-Speed Starweigh checkweighing system delivers milligram inspection accuracy at throughputs up to 400ppm.
A 1000mm wide machine that inspects products in free fall, the BEST OPUS NIR camera/laser sorter recognizes different types of products and uses hyperspectral imaging to identify a unique fingerprint for each type.
Designed for heat-seal applications, Rollprint Chameleon coextrusion-coated, color-changing sealant can be applied to any thermally stable web including polyester, nylon and polypropylene or onto any Rollprint ClearFoil barrier structures to enhance product security and help deter counterfeiting.
Specifically for the high throughput requirements of end-of-line and bag palletizing applications, the ABB Robotics IRB 460 4-axis, 110kg payload, 2.4m reach robot utilizes a FlexGripper Clamp end-of-arm tool for the secure handling of heavy cases or products not compatible with vacuum handling techniques; the function package controls robot cell operation.
The Cermex VersaFilm shrink packaging machine without a sealing bar offers a diagonal infeed system, pin-gating selection, pneumatic selection channels and a regulated flow selection system for product collation.
Designed for meat packaging applications, the Avery Dennison Shrink PS pressure-sensitive label withstands the vacuum-shrink process without wrinkling; it is applied to vacuum shrink bags prior to filling, sealing and shrinking.
Designed for reduced secondary packaging applications that require gentle handling, Intelligrated Alvey 950 series hybrid palletizers combine robotic arms with a conventional high-speed palletizer to increase pattern flexibility.
The EBS 6500 small-character, continuous ink jet system has a touch screen display that prints multi-lingual alphanumeric text and barcodes for inline product and package coding.
Featuring quick stop and high conveying speed capabilities for packaging, weighing, batching and bagging operations, the Eriez HS-8 vibratory feeder can be used in conjunction with a variety of weigh scale and packaging machines.
Designed for fixed weight food packaging applications, the APS semi-automatic scale and bagger presents a horizontal row of pre-opened bags ready for automatic loading.
Witte vibrating fluid bed dryers and coolers permit unimpeded access to the entire drying system; 1-handed C-clamps release the exhaust cover from the conveying surface.
Available with an optional pulse output, the Omega FTB-630 turbine meter features a non-resettable mechanical totalizer; 2-, 3-, 4-, 6- and 8-in. pipe sizes; and a cast iron and epoxy-coated construction.
Environmentally friendly for fresh and dairy applications, Amcor Light films reduce packaging weight while retaining visual appearance and sealing integrity.
FDA approved for use in food contact applications, Metallized Carbon Corporation Metcar Grade M-58 electro-graphite base material is used in dry running, food mixer seals.
The Vanton portable, non-metallic Flex-I-Liner rotary peristaltic pump evacuates drums and totes containing acids, caustics, salts, chlorides and reagent grade chemicals, without corroding the pump or contaminating the fluid.
The Watson-Marlow 520 dye addition pump is suitable for a range of applications including low-shear feed for contamination-free metering of dye, flavor and vitamin additions; the fluids do not come into contact with the pump mechanism.
Featuring large port openings, a stainless steel conveyor and a variety of spouts, the Hinds-Bock 4P-64 container filling system is suitable for products with high concentrations of large particulates such as soups, antipasto or fruit fillings.
The Nissan Forklift Platinum II Nomad lift truck rides on solid pneumatic tires, allowing it to handle material between inside operation and outside storage facilities.
PSC TMW microwave tempering systems heat frozen meat blocks to a precise temperature prior to slicing, grinding, forming and other operations; they maintain a temperature variation of less than +/-2°F within the block exiting the system.