Featured

Featured

Roxset helps with specialised flooring for Vasse Felix winery

The Margaret River Wine Region is positioned in the south-west corner of Western Australia.

Vasse Felix is Margaret River’s founding wine estate and was established in 1967. The estate includes four vineyards throughout the region, which have been selected for their unique topography, microclimates and natural drainage.

The chief winemaker of Vasse Felix, Virginia Willcock, has more than two decades of Margaret River winemaking experience.

Among her many achievements, Willcock was awarded “Winemaker of the Year” in 2012.

READ: Taking food safety to the floor

The winery building in Cowaramup had significant areas of failing and worn concrete showing visible aggregate, coving breakdown, floor drainage problems and underfoot safety risks.

Vasse Felix turned to Roxset to offer specialised services to resolve these challenges.

“Roxset has delivered an incredibly hard and durable surface with its SE solution,” said Willcock. “It protects a very valuable winery floor asset that was deteriorating. Working with the diversity of yeast from each vineyard section, and fermenting with wild yeast, it is critical a dominating culture does not permeate from unhygienic floors. We are pleased the new floor coating has given our winery a fresh clean finish which makes it a positive environment both mentally and physically for our staff.”

The Roxset SE coating system provides the ultimate protection required by wineries who have deteriorating concrete with the challenge of bacteria build-up of wild yeast, acids and salts and the impact of forklift traffic.

Working with Willcock, Roxset upgraded over 1000sqm of floor coatings with the Roxset SE solution to key areas of the winery including; fermenting, bottling, cellar and barrel-washing areas. Roxset epoxy screeds and ceramic additives have assisted in providing long-lasting protection to exposed concrete.

The new Roxset floor will withstand constant forklift traffic and barrel-wash impact.

Roxset is an expert in the installation of high-grade seamless floor coatings to the wine industry over the past 30 years.

 Featured

Meet the ifm expert: Chris Dicker

Meet Chris Dicker who is both the Australasian Product Manager and Complex Product Manager for ifm in Australia. Chris has extensive experience working in the industry and with ifm, he has genuine passion for the products because they are such high quality and are designed to be easy-to-use and implement. Hear how Chris gets great personal satisfaction from helping customers find that perfect solution.

 Featured

Total Construction explains pros and cons of buying and leasing

The leasing of industrial facilities has always been the domain of distribution operations and businesses that needed large off-site storage capacity.

Now however, many F&B businesses are opting to lease facilities rather than purchasing them. Today’s developers are happy to pay the fit out cost and have it included in the overall lease payments, which tends to suit both parties.

READ: Total Tips – design and building advice for food & beverage manufacturers

However, there are pros and cons when delving into buying or leasing premises. What are some of the advantages of leasing a warehouse, distribution centre or manufacturing building? Here’s a few tips from Total Construction.

Initial start-up costs. Investing in a building can be very costly, especially if you are an onshore manufacturer. While it is a fixed asset, money can be better spent on other more important things that can get a business up and running. This includes automated plant, which in turn saves on labour costs. Maybe the savings can be spent on research and development, and marketing and promoting the newly developed product.

Red tape. Getting compliance from councils can cause a lot of angst and also cost a lot of money. While a manufacturer will have to make sure they comply with their ongoing working conditions, making sure the building meets all the local body and environmental requirements will be up to the building owner.

Building upkeep. Buildings need to be kept up to scratch. Tenants don’t have to worry about repairs or any of the administration that goes into looking after the building – whether it be worrying about the rates bill, plumbing or electrics going haywire, or maintenance due to wear and tear.

Location, location, location. Leasing or renting means you can not only shop around for the best location, but you are not tied down to one place for a long time. This means if things change – whether it be a company’s need to expand, or clients moving to another part of the city, or even to a new city – it gives a manufacturer leeway to not renew the lease.

The Cons

As with any decision made, there are also downsides to leasing a building and/or plant. These include:

Losing capital growth. This can be an issue if you live in a city where commercial space is at a premium. Cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are growing exponentially, and unless the world economy collapses, will be sought after places of business for a long time to come.

Locked in contract. Being locked into a contract means the tenant will have to stay where they are until the contract runs out or pay penalties if the lease is broken. When it comes to the fit out of the warehouse, the tenant has a limited say in how it will look.
Limited say. The owner of the building will have certain terms and conditions that have to be adhered to by the occupant.

Expansion. If your business takes off and you need to expand your operations the owner of the building can call the shots – whether this is allowing a tenant to extend the space available, or the accompanying increase in rent.

 Featured

Newly Weds Foods knows not all breadcrumbs are created equal

Breadcrumbs are one of the unsung heroes of the food industry. They are used in many product applications but never really take precedence as the key ingredient. Hence, the selection of the right breadcrumbs can make a significant difference to the overall quality of a finished product.

Historically, low cost mass produced breadcrumbs were almost always made from unsold bread returned to the bakers by retailers.

To make use of this essentially waste product, bakeries redried the bread and crumbed it to commercialise a product that would otherwise be dumped. This product was the industry standard for many years.

READ: Newly Weds offers world-tour of flavour trends at foodpro

In recent times however, various market changes have had an impact on the availability of these types of breadcrumbs and its use.

Firstly, retailers have become more adept at forecasts and ordering, meaning the incidence of waste has significantly reduced and availability can be inconsistent.

The varieties of bread in retail have also increased, meaning crumbs made from returned bread can have extraordinarily long ingredient lists which are not always suitable for processors using the crumbs in their product.

New country of origin labelling as well as allergen statements have also made these crumbs more difficult to use in processing where demands for transparency and clean labels are increasing. As a result, there has been strong demand for purpose bake crumbs, particularly in manufacturing.

Newly Weds Foods has been producing purpose-baked crumbs in Australia for more than 30 years in the form of its signature Panko Crumb and Japanese Style Breadcrumb. These crumbs are produced through the combination of selecting high quality wheat flours with a specialised, innovative technology using electrical current during the baking process to create an elongated, slivered shape.

This unique shape and open structure produces a delicate, crispy texture when fried or oven baked. The specialised baking process also produces bread loaves that are free from an outer crust, giving a uniform coloured crumb which improves visual appeal and allows the company to manage colour to specification.

While sales of Panko have continued to grow significantly, these crumbs are a premium product. But they are not always a cost- effective option for some of the more traditional uses of breadcrumbs that have predominantly been the domain of returned breadcrumbs.

To meet this demand for lower cost, purpose baked crumbs, Newly Weds Foods has installed a traditional bread baking line where loaves are baked using traditional methods.

This produces more homemade looking bread with an outer crust that when crumbed creates a more home-style, familiar looking speckled crumb.  The crust gives golden brown highlights and a great crunchy texture that’s ideal for a variety of applications and a more cost effective alternative to Panko in some applications.

By purpose baking this way, the company can ensure its customers consistent supply with the same quality and appearance on every delivery.

Ingredient listings and allergen statements are greatly simplified with most of Newly Weds Foods’ traditional crumbs containing only five ingredients – flour, salt, yeast, sugar & water.  All of these ingredients are Australian sourced helping country of origin labelling as well.

Further catering to market demand, Newly Weds Foods also has the flexibility of producing crumbs via an extrusion process rather than traditional baking technology.

This process allows for crumbs to be made into a variety of shapes as well as the option for gluten-free applications.

 Featured

ESM Australia helps businesses keep costs down with modular software systems

In the modern Australian manufacturing environment, it is important to manage costs.

With stiff and cheap, competition from overseas markets, having a competitive edge is important if you want to run a successful processing business.

The old adage, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it” remains as true today as it’s ever been. But measuring some processes in food accurately can be difficult.

Some use manual paper-based logging or performance metrics, some use a hybrid system of paper-based and digital and a growing number are using new technologies to capture data automatically, directly from process machinery and smart sensors.

Connecting these systems and managing their data is not without challenges.

Almost all manufacturing enterprises have different plant from different vendors and there are generally and various control system vendors, makes, models and communications protocols to deal with.

And once you have the data, then what?

The rewards can be immense.

Once production data is available to management, operations and maintenance, productivity can be measured and fine-tuned.

This is where the new monitoring and control platform, Ignition, comes into its own. With the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industry 4.0 making their footprints felt on the Australian manufacturing landscape, the Ignition platform is designed to help connect, collect, and harness process data to implement positive changes within the food processing industry.

“Ignition is a great connector of things,” said Glen Fry, managing director of ESM, an Australian distributor and gold-certified integrator of Ignition.

“It makes an ideal platform for the Internet of Things because of the interconnectability and scalability it offers. Ignition is a very open design, yet incredibly secure,” he said.

“Ignition connects to nearly any field device such as PLCs from all major automation vendors, variable speed drives, or an obscure IoT enabled sensor. It doesn’t really matter what it is. We are able to get that data easily and cost-effectively then store, analyse, and visualise.”

Once the data is in the standard SQL database, Ignition provides powerful tools to format and display data either in real time, or historical trends.

The best insights can sometimes come from areas you don’t expect.

Modules that provide machine-learning and AI-based data analytics to carry out some predictive analysis are available, and those tools can give users insights into data they were not going to see just by looking at it due to the large volume of data available.

Ignition is a modular system, so it can be catered to a company’s individual needs. Fry said his company will help a customer decide what parts of the system is best for them. Best of all, the system is hugely scalable, with the typical installation providing unlimited device and data connections, and unlimited users, for one cost.

“We work with the client to scope their requirements concisely up front,” he said.

“It means that we need to get a good insight into what their business is doing so that we can help pick the right metrics to measure. Results only come from the client taking those actions. It’s the visibility of that production process that allows people to make changes that drive those yield improvements.”

One local customer told Fry implementing changes based on the data the Ignition system highlighted offered up a net saving of “around seven percent” on running the plant.

That sounds like a lot, but tightening productivity, and quality is much easier when you have a tool like Ignition to help identify problem areas.

When the business is turns over more than $100 million, those savings get put into perspective pretty quickly, said Fry.

“For that particular project, we implemented a full visualisation and manufacturing execution system for [its product] and that has been a large-scale process,” said Fry.

“Apart from the obvious costs savings, it’s given the clients a much greater insight into their business.”

And that is the key to the whole Ignition platform.

It is designed to cut out the hassle of dealing with the different variety of vendors’ plant and machinery used in the manufacturing process. It allows for the monitoring and reporting of how the plant and machinery is working without having to go to each individual piece of equipment and find how it is running.

“Ignition helps to paint a picture of where your problems are,” said Fry.

“The important part about that is that we can measure in real time the productivity, quality or availability and the downtime of machinery in a production environment,” he said.

“By looking at those variables we are able to devise OEE [Overall Equipment Effectiveness]. What that does is give us not only real-time data but also provides us with historical data.

That data has huge potential, too, because we can look at the productivity of a line – month-on-month or product-on-product and understand whether the plant’s performance is getting better or worse.”

Fry is also at pains to point out the one other differentiation between Ignition and most of its competitors, which is the pricing structure.

“With many other systems you’ll need to buy more client licenses, more tags, more development licences. With Ignition’s standard unlimited licencing model, if you want to connect another section of plant or add 20 users, it costs no more than the engineering to design the pages.

“That can be an enormous saving and with some companies those extra fees legacy SCADA system impose can be a huge pain point,” said Fry.

 Featured

Rockwell Automation helps an iconic Australian biscuit manufacturer with plant upgrade

Arnott’s is one of the largest food companies in the Asia Pacific region. More than 50,000 Australians have worked for Arnott’s over the past century.

Today, Arnott’s employs around 2,200 Australians across all states and territories.

The company also employs several thousand people across the Asia Pacific region, in countries such as New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan.

Millions of Australians have grown up with Arnott’s over the past 152 years. For them, Arnott’s is more than a food company – it’s a piece of Australia’s history and a national icon. Arnott’s portfolio of brands includes household names like Tim Tam, Shapes, Iced VoVo, SAO, Vita-Weat, Salada and Tiny Teddy.

READ: NHP to acquire Rockwell Automation related business assets

As consumers continue to seek high quality and variety in product ranges, food and beverage manufacturers are actively looking to invest in new technologies to help them develop a more agile response to changing consumer tastes and increased flexibility in production lines.

Arnott’s produces a wide variety of sweet and savoury biscuits that have been enjoyed by generations. In fact, Arnott’s has invested approximately a quarter of a billion dollars in their Australian biscuit facilities.

The company’s manufacturing plant in Adelaide produces approximately 10,000 tonnes of biscuits annually. To meet increasing local and global consumer demand, Arnott’s recently embarked on Project Flex – a control and HMI system upgrade to deliver increased flexibility and agility for biscuit production.

When embarking on Project Flex, Arnott’s had no hesitation in calling upon their long-standing automation and control provider Sage Automation. According to Stuart Mitchell, senior systems engineer at Sage, “We have been working with Arnott’s in Adelaide for the past 20 years so we are very familiar with the plant. It is a Rockwell Automation site through and through, so we naturally called on them to help with the upgrade.”

With expansion into international markets and a subsequent demand to increase production, it was important for Arnott’s to have the ability to run any biscuit on any line while maintaining product consistency.

The first stage of the project involved updating the legacy oven conveyor’s PLC hardware to improve the way that operators could load new production orders, including a feature that allows different recipes to be stored, selected and produced on the same line. It also involved the installation of two new cooling systems for conveyors including reprogramming of the control system and HMI.

With this new system, Arnott’s were able to achieve greater flexibility on each line with a reduced margin for human error.

The control system upgrade required the migration of legacy SLC controllers to Allen Bradley ControlLogix to help reduce maintenance costs and allow for increased flexibility on production lines.

While justifying the risk and expense of control system upgrades may initially seem like a challenge, investing in modern technologies that leverage the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) helps manufacturers realise the benefits of smart manufacturing.

As Jonathan Footman, solutions architect, Rockwell Automation, explained, “The more connectivity you have across the plant floor helps implement the technology to enable smart manufacturing and progress in the journey towards a connected enterprise.”

To keep the plant running, Arnott’s leveraged the inherent flexibility of the Rockwell Automation Integrated Architecture system to undergo a staged migration to the new controllers.

The ControlLogix control system offers modular architectures and a range of I/O and network options. Tight integration between the programming software, controller, and I/O modules, reduces development time and costs at commissioning and during normal operation.

To help reduce engineering time, Sage used existing SLC I/O in the first stage and subsequently added some Ethernet Point I/O and Flex I/O on DeviceNet. The RSLogix Project Migrator Tool was used to install the ControlLogix controllers with ease.

“While the majority of the plant uses Ethernet, there is still some equipment communicating through DeviceNet and DH+ so by using ControlLogix, any potential integration issues were overcome because the controller is compatible with all three networks. This flexibility allowed the upgrade to be performed in a staged manner as opposed to having to perform the whole upgrade in one go,” explained Footman.

Investing in modern technologies helped manufacturers realise the benefits of smart manufacturing.

Reducing production loss during an upgrade was often filled with challenges but in this case, thanks to careful planning and a phased approach to the migration, the upgrade was completed with no production loss.

Delivering a wide-range of motor control, Arnott’s installed seven new PowerFlex 525 drives as part of the upgrade. Sage was responsible for the drive integration using existing code to both new and existing Ethernet and DeviceNet networks. Moving to the newer platform increased the operational efficiency and centralised the plant’s control system.

In addition, Arnott’s leveraged the intelligence of the PowerFlex variable speed drives on Ethernet to help operators access real time information in the plant.

“Prior to the drive upgrade, the operators would have to run feedback using analogue set points, which was very time consuming. Now, with the PowerFlex drives on Ethernet, all the diagnostics can be accessed in real time. The drives also have a small footprint, reducing the required panel size,” explained Mitchell.

The HMI design and functionality was updated according to Arnott’s specifications to improve the way operators could load new production orders, including a feature that allows different recipes to be stored, selected and produced on the same line.

Sage designed, programmed and installed the HMI solution allowing for a large number of recipes to be created and stored for each oven. The recipe management page enabled each oven to store recipes with pre-programmed conveyor paths, line speed set points and variables.

The new HMI system utilises PanelView terminals and reduces the number of pages from approximately 70 to only 20, simplifying events with each conveyor having its own pop up with manual controls and speed settings.

The HMI solution allows for a large number of recipes to be created and stored for each oven.

With this new system now in place, Arnott’s was able to achieve greater flexibility on each line with a much reduced margin for human error.

According to Andre Spoor, engineering manager, Arnott’s Biscuits, “Sage upgraded our PLC and HMI with no loss in production and no downtime. It’s a great result for us considering it was such a big upgrade.”

By undertaking a staged approach to the control system migration, the multiple manufacturing control solutions were delivered with no unplanned interruption to production. The system was centralised with all cooling systems being monitored and controlled from a centralised ControlLogix controller.

“The change has ensured that the site improves its ability to be flexible. It has simplified the selection and set up process and therefore reduced operator error and provided control systems for the sites conveyors and cooling systems that are well supported within industry,” explained Spoor.

Thanks to the upgrade, Arnott’s is well positioned to meet the growing demand for increased flexibility and agility in its manufacturing operations. By increasing connectivity across the plant floor, it is realising the benefits of smart manufacturing and is now able to build on this foundation, step-by-step, to work towards a connected enterprise.

 Featured

JCurve Solutions helps Feel Good Foods step up its business

Running a business with multiple brands while ensuring staff and customers’ needs are met can be challenging.

Every business owner wants each sector within their company to be pristine and functioning at all times.

This is where JCurve Solutions can help. The company provides award-winning cloud software to increase efficiency and reduce costs.

JCS’ Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) enable employees to work smarter, simplify their processes, and empower more agile decision-making.

READ: Emma & Tom’s – growing with JCurve ERP

The tried and tested software is winning over people like Feel Good Foods’ CEO, George Giannakopoulos.

Feel Good Foods has dozens of brands that produce thirst-quenching products such as Bonsoy soy milk and Bod kombucha.

It also helps food cravings with products such as Sprout and Kernel handmade nut cheese.

Describing himself as “not particularly tech-savvy”, it was the all-in-one capability of JCurve ERP, an exclusive small-business edition of NetSuite provided by JCS, that won Giannakopoulos over.

He said the company explored numerous business software solutions, but when Giannakopoulos weighed up the options, JCurve ERP came out on top.

He took his business from a basic online accounting package to an all-inclusive system providing customer-facing sales force automation, quotes and orders, marketing and customer service capability, integrated back-office inventory management, fulfilment, logistics and accounting.

“Since implementation, I’ve really seen how JCurve ERP continues to be a big software for small businesses.”

The data and visibility JCurve ERP provided, allowed Giannakopoulos to more effectively manage staff.

“Decisions are no longer made on a hunch, but rather on hard, identifiable trends and forecasting data.

“As a business owner, I have always known my business, but today with JCurve ERP, I can see inside every channel of my business anywhere, anytime.”

It was a significant step for Giannakopoulos’s business, but a necessary one to achieve its growth objectives.

Over the past 12 months of Feel Good Foods’ journey, JCurve ERP has delivered significant returns in increased productivity, sales and business visibility.

With multiple warehousing capability, JCurve ERP has also provided the necessary features and processes to grow Giannakopoulos’ business on the national stage.

“I have every confidence now in our ability to take our current operations national. That was not possible before JCurve ERP,” he said.

Above all, it’s the day-to-day impact of JCurve ERP that has delivered immediate efficiencies and savings across the business.

Giannakopoulos said when his sales teams are out on the road they can now see stock quantities and customer order history in real-time.

Swapping over to the new system was not as much of a headache as people would think.

“The fact that it is a single unified cloud-based system with one point of contact for support gave me confidence that our transition would be relatively stress-free,” said Giannakopoulos.

“Most importantly, we wouldn’t have to be concerned with manual updates going forward.”

JCurve Solutions empowers business growth and profitability, through its business software, products that effectively manage costs, reduce business inefficiencies and improve the bottom line.

Its cloud-based ERP business management solutions are designed for companies who may have outgrown their accounting-only software or for businesses that work with multiple, disparate systems. JCurve ERP is the Australian and New Zealand small business edition of NetSuite.

It has an exclusive licensing agreement to design, develop and support a NetSuite small business product.

JCurve ERP delivers fully featured software via the cloud that works for small business, without the prohibitive price tag.

ERP software was once the domain of enterprise-level organisations, but cloud software delivery has made ERP accessible for businesses of all sizes.

With cloud ERP implementation, functionality and price points have been able to match small and large business requirements.

Giannakopoulos said his business had improved as drivers didn’t need to go back to the office to re-check information.

This is because Cloud ERP systems allow you to take your business with you and continuously see real-time information.

The single-source data of your ERP system is always accessible, wherever you have an internet connection.

Android and iOS native apps provide a convenient way to see dashboard data and business performance metrics for the user’s role.

Being empowered with information that’s always at your fingertips means being able to make agile decisions, the moment you need to.

 Featured

Meet the ifm expert – Hao Yang

Meet Hao Yang, Internal Sales Manager with ifm. Hao loves working with a company that is a family business with loyal employees and also loyal long-term customers. He is proud and passionate to be part of the Australian ifm headquarters – a technical centre in the automation world and one of the few, if not only, companies that provide a 5-year warranty on their products. Hear Hao talk about the ‘Close To You’ culture of ifm and how together with customers they can help businesses to grow.

 Featured

Picking your own box of chocolates – no longer a pipe dream

By Siemens

It’s not available commercially but to demonstrate what the future might hold, a chocolate manufacturer in Switzerland (where else) has experimented by offering a bespoke box of chocolates that Forrest Gump would be happy with.

The production line’s robot enables consumers to order its chocolates any time from any where via Twitter. You can order, for example, three mini bars of dark chocolate and several with nuts and fill the rest of the package with milk chocolate. No white chocolate to be seen. The container is labelled, provided with the necessary product declaration, sealed and shipped to the consumer.

The flexible pick system is an “innovation kit” for Chocolat Frey in Germany and part of experimenting with the fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0 as it is being dubbed. The company has collaborated with a leading university, the University for Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), packaging specialist Pacvois, automation partner Autexis Holding AG and Siemens using its MindSphere open cloud ecosystem.

“As a university, it’s our job to identify new possibilities and point out where the journey could take us,” says Markus Krack, Head of Technology Transfer FITT at the School of Engineering at the university.

“The system is intended to provide an experience,” Krack explains. “We therefore chose a product and a problem that everyone knows: chocolate!”

The process is currently very expensive because Chocolat Frey is orientated to mass production and individual orders are packaged by hand.

The flexible pick system was financed by the university. “Producing the system was quite a feat,” Krack said. “Everyone pulled together. Even our professors did some of the programming, which doesn’t happen very often.” The partners relied primarily on products and solutions from Siemens. “We used MindSphere, the open cloud ecosystem from Siemens, on which our proprietary Autexis apps can run,” says Philippe Ramseier, the owner of Autexis.

The MindConnect hardware component collects the data from sensors and actuators and transmits it to the MindSphere cloud. A Simatic S7-1500 controller controls the Kuka robot using the TIA Portal library. This significantly simplifies the robot engineering, since the engineer only has to be familiar with the TIA Portal.

Siemens provides an extensive sample application for this purpose, which contains the robot program and the HMI images. The robot path points can thus be taught from a Simatic mobile panel (KTP900F), which gives a common look and feel to the way the machine and robot operate.

Autexis has been working with products from Siemens almost exclusively for 35 years. “This strategy has proven to be successful,” says Ramseier. Thanks to this long-lasting partnership, and by sharing ideas openly with Siemens on a basis of mutual trust, Autexis can apply itself to the development of new products and services.

This is also a good choice for Krack and the university. “Siemens is cutting-edge in the industrial environment. Our students must be able to deal with that.”

The Autexis project team also implemented new services for the Hannover Messe. Inventories or operating data from the robot can be made visible directly on the flexible pick system. “A personalised label gives customers with augmented reality additional information on the product, like the origin of the chocolate and the calories in each item in the assortment,” Ramseier says.

“The system can be expanded almost infinitely,” he adds. “For example, we can integrate the warehouse. If the inventory of mini bars falls below a minimum level, an order is automatically triggered.”

The customer’s preferences and ordering habits can be analysed using the data collected by the flexible pick system. Who likes what chocolate? Who orders chocolate and when? Does customer behaviour depend on the weather? “A customer who orders an especially large amount of chocolate could be sent a fitness studio brochure,” Krack says with a chuckle. And then adds, “Data protection is important to us.”

The flexible pick system is an “innovation kit” for Chocolat Frey, so it can be used to test processes. The results obtained can flow into the operational process later on. Krack also has a lot of praise for the project. “Of course, the research is also aimed at expanding the flexible pick system and developing more processes. As a university, it’s our job to identify new possibilities and point out where the journey could take us.”

Learn how Siemens is helping the Food & Beverage industry adapt to technological change at Digitalize 2018, Siemens’ annual digitalization conference, which will be held in Melbourne on Wednesday, 8 August 2018. For more details and to register, visit www.siemensdigitalize2018.com. 

 Featured

Meet the ifm expert – Glenn Thornton

National product and brand manager for ifm, Glenn Thornton, explains what differentiates ifm from other high-tech electronics businesses. Besides offering quality well-priced products and quick turnaround of service, Glenn says what really drives the company and his colleagues are the relationships they develop with customers. Originally an electrician by trade, Glenn appreciates that while getting the job done right is of utmost importance, what he really enjoys at ifm is the ongoing relationship with customers and seeing the outcomes that they achieve.

 Featured

Meet the ifm expert – Freddie Coertze

Meet expert Freddie Coertze, the Product Manager of Industrial Communications at ifm. Freddie talks about why he loves being part of ifm’s family culture and working with such high quality products. He is particularly inspired by the customers he works with and extending the ifm values of good service to customers, gaining satisfaction from finding the best solutions for them. Hear Freddie explain why ifm’s slogan ‘Close To You’ is not just a saying, but a real company value.

Watch this video to find out more

 Featured

A new and different stand-on scrubber

Maker of floor cleaning machines and technologies, Tennant Australia has released a scrubber with the right features to deliver speed, agility and performance to food and beverage makers.

The latest addition to the company’s line-up of scrubber-dryers, the T350 is available with Tennant innovations like touch screen ProPanel, ec-H20 NanoClean, Smart-Fill (Automatic Battery Watering) and IRIS asset manager software to help businesses drive down the rising cost of cleaning.

“The T350 is a new and different stand-on scrubber that delivers category-leading productivity by combining the agility of a walk behind unit with the speed of a ride-on for F&B manufacturers who need the best of both worlds,” Josh Hastings, Tennant ANZ marketing manager told Food & Beverage Industry News.

“High productivity rates and great manoeuvrability make this stand-on scrubber an ideal choice for large or obstructed spaces across manufacturing.”

The unit has a cleaning path of up to 600mm (disk) which means it can deliver productivity rates exceeding 2,795 square meters per hour. It easily handles tight turning circles in small spaces while offering speed over larger sized production areas. What’s more, its turning circle has been designed to easily navigate tight spaces with minimal disturbance.

“As with all Tennant equipment, maintenance of health and safety is a key commitment. Food ingredients, oils, grease, debris and spills are specific challenges to food and beverage makers so maintaining cleaning standards with equipment solutions that not only remove dirt and soil, but also leave surfaces safe, dry, and ready for traffic is paramount to safety,” said Hastings.

The T350’s optimised squeegee design and advanced recovery system are designed to reduce the risk of slip-and-fall accidents and ensure soils are removed from the floor quickly and efficiently in fast paced manufacturing environments. New Smart Fill automatic battery watering technology (automatically) fills batteries to proper levels with (distilled) water which helps increase battery life, extend battery run-time and easily optimises long-term battery performance with a nearly maintenance-free battery watering system.

With excellent down pressure (up to 41kg), the T350 is suitable for a variety of floor surfaces found in food manufacturing, including textured and grouted floors with multiple cleaning pad and brush combinations available from the company’s partner, 3M.

“T350 has been designed with latest technology, operator comfort and safety in mind with ergonomic and easy-to-use machine controls including LCD touch panel with on-board (ProPanel) tutorial videos available,” said Hastings. “For safety, before engaging motion, the forward and reverse light will blink until you tell the unit which direction you want to go.  An intuitive and ergonomic green control knob gives the operator an easy (and safe) way to adjust speed while in motion.”

While cleaning, users can choose between four cleaning modes: Standard Conventional Cleaning, Quiet Mode (for sensitive areas), available Severe Environment Mode (for harder to clean areas) and ec-H2O NanoClean (exclusive to Tennant company).

Ec-H20 (pronounced ec-water) is a detergent-free “green” cleaning technology that uses millions of electrically charged nano bubbles. It not only reduces water consumption (by up to 70 per cent when compared to conventional cleaning), but is also ideal for use in food production areas. Additionally, it voids the disposal of conventional cleaning detergents into the waste stream environment.

“Maintaining sanitary environments is critical for food and beverage facilities,” said Hastings. “Tennant’s total floor care solutions help provide clean, hygienic environments where food or beverages are prepared, processed, packaged, bottled, stored or transported.”

 Featured

Meet the ifm expert – Jas Singh

Meet Jas Singh, who is the Systems and Solutions Manager for ifm in Australia. Jas is an expert in Internet of Things (IoT) solutions – and tailoring solutions for customers based on their specific needs. He is passionate about ifm products – both hardware and software – and gets great satisfaction in creating the ideal solution for a customer. Hear Jas talk about why he prefers to work with ifm, the unique connection that ifm staff have with each other and to their customers, and some of the inspiring projects he has worked on to improve outcomes for his customers.

 Featured

A new generation of photoelectric sensors

SICK has streamlined its portfolio of object detection sensors and equipped them with new technologies for improved performance. These new smart devices represent a significant improvement, both in terms of usability and reliability.

By focusing on the essentials, SICK has made its photoelectric sensors fit to face future challenges. The new W16 and W26 product families are the result of a consistent simplification and streamlining of the company’s product portfolio. These devices are technically optimized and equipped with new features, intended to make work easier and processes safer.

In addition, as smart components within networked production and control processes in complex machine environments, the sensors are equipped for the industrial future and Industry 4.0. They are not only consistent in terms of housing size, but also in terms of their equipment. Because all features are consistent across both product families, users can rely on these product families for seamless, reliable production in all situations.

The new technologies

Twineye Technology offers operational safety for high-gloss, reflective, and high-contrast objects, such as food packaging. This technology uses one sender and two receivers. Should the light beam be deflected by an uneven or high-gloss surface, the sensor maintains its status until the second receiver can no longer detect the object either. This prevent switching errors.

Linespot technology ensures that perforated, textured, and uneven objects can be reliably detected. The light spot, which has been extended to form a line, allows optical information to be provided about irregularities, such as gaps or rough surfaces.

Clearsens technology ensures transparent objects such as bottles can be accurately detected. The operating element can rotate to set the required mode depending on the object characteristics, and then pressed to carry out the sensor teach-in for the reflector. Where dirt reduces the light emitted by the reflector, Autoadapt technology compensates by adjusting the switching thresholds. This allows cleaning intervals to be extended and the availability of the sensors to be increased.

Depolarizing objects such as foil-wrapped containers also place high demands on sensors. These devices filter the received signal geometrically and can therefore differentiate between reflectors and depolarizing objects, and thus avoid switching errors.

Importantly, the new sensors also provide the input required on the route toward Industry 4.0. They are all equipped as standard with IO-Link and, as smart sensors, can play an active role in end-to-end automation networks.

Optically and mechanically rugged

Until now, ambient light in the form of direct sunlight, LED illumination, and so on has sometimes led to switching errors. The new product families feature an Optofilter which ensures they only see what is there.

They are also more mechanically rugged than predecessors. Their “Vistal” housing is made from a glass-fibre reinforced plastic and is resistant to extreme loads caused by thermal, chemical, or mechanical influences. Also, the sensors’ laser inscription allows clear identification of the device type, even after years of operation. The printed QR code takes the user directly to more product information.

Usability a priority

The usability of the new sensor ranges is intended to create a “cockpit feeling” in the machine room. BluePilot, a blue LED alignment aid which enables faster alignment of sensors and reflectors as well as senders and receivers, helps ensure this.

No further setup is required. In live operation, the LEDs in these device classes also offer a diagnostic function: should detection quality change as a result of contamination and/or vibration, the LEDs indicate the degree of impairment by slowly increasing or decreasing dimming. In this way, operators can detect faults at a glance early on before they result in production failures.

Setting up the new photoelectric proximity sensors with Bluepilot is just as intuitive. To this end, the advantages of the teach-in button and potentiometer have been combined in one operating element. This allows the sensing distance – which is in turn visualized by the blue LED ring – to be configured in a matter of seconds.

With the help of a new smart production system, SICK has been manufacturing W16 and W26 sensors since July 2017 in Germany. Production cells enable the manufacture of bespoke product variants within the context of a modular system under the same conditions as serial products – in a traceable manner, with a serial number for indexing and cross linking.

 Featured

The new standard in level measurement

Since its introduction about 30 years ago, radar level measurement has continued to change and improve. VEGA Australia offers two 80 GHz units which represent the cutting edge in this field.

Up until the late 1980s, manufacturers used technologies such as capacitance and ultrasonic pressure to measure the levels of liquids and solids inside vessels. However, as is the case with most old technologies, these devices have now been largely superseded.

“Radar technology now is becoming an accepted form of level measurement. Radar has completely replaced traditional methods because of advantages to the client,” John Leadbetter, managing director of VEGA Australia, told Food & Beverage Industry News.

These advantages include better hygiene, efficiency, simplicity, speed, accuracy, and more.

VEGA Australia offers two products which provide all these benefits – the Vegapuls 69 which is mainly used to measure solid materials like grains, flours, and solid mixtures; and the Vegapuls 64, which is suitable for use with liquid and paste materials, such as sauces, dairy products, blends of mixtures, and oils.

80GHz level measurement

These level sensors are the first to use a frequency of 80 GHz. This means they have a narrow beam angle of 3 degrees which provides better focus. In addition, they have an increased power range and can measure up to 120m.

According to Leadbetter, the small size of the sensors is another important factor. “The smaller size in both models allows a lower beam angle. The other thing it does is help with the cost of installation. The customer doesn’t have to go out and modify vessels to larger diameter units. In most cases, existing sockets on the vessels can be utilised for the transmitter. Installation’s a lot simpler and easier,” he said.

While the sensors are suitable for use in many industries, including energy, oil, chemical, building and elsewhere, the models used by food makers have all the necessary industry approvals.

“The Vegapuls 64 carries all the food approvals and the Vegapuls 69 carries what they call the dust approval. This is necessary because things like grain and white sugar are highly explosive,” said Leadbetter.

The importance of hygiene

Hygiene is a crucial consideration for food and beverage makers. The advantage of radar level measurement, in this context, is that the sensor used never come into contact with the material being measured.

Apart from that, operations which use the technology should simply follow normal industry procedures. “Most applications in the food industry use cleaning in place with caustics, so we’re all fully approved, we have temperature ratings and everything for that. Realistically in the food industry you’re going to have no little gaps or anything like that so it’s going to be a smooth finish,” Leadbetter said.

Connectivity and simplicity

According to Leadbetter, another advantage of the sensors is that they are Bluetooth compatible.

“With both units you have a variety of fittings so they are adaptable to the needs of specific clients. They also have built-in asset management which means that, if there has been a problem in the middle of the night, they can go back through the memory and pick out what the problem was,” he said. “Asset management’s a big part of it.”

The sensors are used with an industry standard software called Pactware which is commonly used for instrumentation. Users log into their units through a laptop (or Bluetooth via a smart phone or iPad) and they are able to set the unit up either remotely or connect to it directly.

“The major feedback we get from customers is how easy they are to program. We’ve made it a lot simpler for the customer,” said Leadbetter.

According to Leadbetter, the two units have been very well received by industry. “Three major grain companies in Australia have now standardised on the Vegapuls 69. Also, in the case of the Vegapulse 64 we have food manufacturers that have standardised on the product. This means they are very happy with the performance,” he said.

On top of that, they have proved popular. Combined, they have sold in excess of 80,000 units, across all industries, worldwide.

Leadbetter said that VEGA Australia has all the level measurement bases covered. “We’ve covered the dry and processed food with the same technology. It’s one technology to cover both sides of operations,” he said.

 Featured

Drainage design and food safety

Cleanliness isn’t only about what’s visible. Behind seemingly clean food preparation environments, there lies a potential hygiene risk. Drainage maker ACO can be part of the solution to this problem.

Ultimately, food safety is about ensuring the food we eat is free from contamination. To do this, food preparation areas must be as clean as possible. The aim must be to prevent work areas from becoming breeding grounds for pathogens such as listeria and salmonella and to limit their spread into other areas of the business.

In food processing plants, the possibility for bacteria to grow exists everywhere from tea towels, utensils and appliances to the floor below. For consumers, the consequence of not addressing this problem can extend to food poisoning, allergies, severe illness and even death. With an increased demand for fresh, ready to eat food and specific dietary and allergen requirements, the pressure is on for food manufacturers to provide safe products.

Every food production and retail facility should understand the need for hygienic practices, identify potential hygiene weaknesses and have a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan in place. HACCP is a process designed to mitigate risk and ensure the highest level of cleanliness for maximum food safety.

How do drainage systems contribute to hygienic practice?

More often than not, after benchtops, appliances, equipment, cupboards and walls have been cleaned, cleaning water and products are swept or washed into the drainage system via grates and then into the floor gully. Therefore, it is crucial that grates and drain systems are thoroughly cleaned.

In many systems, the design of grates, floor gullies and drainage channels makes them difficult to clean thoroughly. This creates potential sites for the growth of bacteria, which can subsequently spread via foot traffic or washdown spray.

ACO is committed to hygienic drainage systems. Under its Hygienefirst philosophy, the company designs grates, gullies and channels for performance, safety and “cleanability”. Ensuring products are completely clean allows for high hygiene levels for food production facilities.

“The drains primary objective is to remove wastewater, be easily cleaned and subsequently be kept clean. If drainage is designed and installed correctly, it will reduce the bacteria that can harbour in joins, corners or crevices that occur with poor designs, thereby reducing the overall risk of contamination and food spoilage,” said Kate Jennings, product manager, ACO Australia.

Some of the key elements in the ACO design include the absence of joins and crevices where bacteria can build up; as well as sharp corners which can be difficult for brooms, mops and cleaning fluids to adequately reach and clean. In addition, drainable design ensures residual contaminated wastewater will not pool or stagnate.

Made of stainless steel for corrosion resistance and easy cleaning, ACO’s grates, floor gullies and channels are constructed with round edges for safe and easy handling, and smooth contours that won’t trap contaminants. In addition, the grates are slip resistant and minimise the risk of workplace injury. ACO recommends a standardised cleaning procedure for their stainless steel channels, drains and floor gullies. (See accompanying box).

For the most part, the level and frequency of cleaning is determined for the most part by the room’s hygienic risk profile. For example, in areas where food preparation is carried out for ready to eat meals, the moisture level of the food is high and therefore more likely to encourage bacteria growth.

“Assessing the risk with HACCP will determine the frequency and depth of the clean,” said Jennings. “Regular maintenance and inspection is often overlooked and must be part of the overall cleaning procedure for the floor and drainage system to ensure a safe food preparation environment.”

Drainage systems with corners and crevices make it difficult for cleaning with brooms and mops as the bristles cannot reach to remove waste products.
Drainage systems with corners and crevices make it difficult for cleaning with brooms and mops as the bristles cannot reach to remove waste products.
 Featured

Bridging the gap – dock levellers in food & beverage manufacturing

Food & Beverage Industry News talks to MHE-Demag Australia’s Paul Clarke about how dock levellers help businesses improve their bottom lines by ensuring their logistics operations are safe and efficient.

For manufacturers, the gap between the plant floor and the delivery truck is tricky. It not only poses a potential safety risk, but also can be a source of inefficiency. For food and beverage makers, there is an added concern. Because these businesses deal with perishable products, speed and temperature control are important considerations. They have to be able to ensure their goods arrive fresh to their destinations.

MHE-Demag Australia offers a range of solutions to help businesses deal with these concerns.

“The products and solutions we offer within the industrial product market, provide entrance controls that assist with the environmental integrity within food and beverage temperature-controlled storage and manufacturing facilities,” Paul Clarke, MHE-Demag Australia’s national sales manager told Food & Beverage Industry News.

“Our low-maintenance/high-strength docking products, along with our range of industrial doors, assist with improving productivity through longevity and durability and cost reduction through environmental controls.”

How to choose the right dock leveller

There are many dock levellers on the market that are sold with promises of heavy-duty capacity or high quality. However, according to Clarke, those making such claims often overlook some important considerations.

Choosing the right product for each individual application is one such concern. “The correct size and duty of the dock leveller will not only greatly affect the transition between the factory or warehouse floor and the floor, or bed of the trailer or truck being loaded, but also improve the life cycle of the products and maintain safe operational integrity,” he said.

He said that, where floor heights and load averages are known, MHE-Demag Australia can use a formula to identify the most suitable product for the application.

“Our products not only satisfy any concerns surrounding quality, strength and integrity but can also reduce the internal footprint normally taken up by dock leveller equipment,” he said. “This can increase the valuable floor space within manufacturing or storage facilities by taking the loading process outside the buildings with external dock design options.”

The company offers a variety of docking solutions, from the hydraulically operated “Gator” pit or frame mounted dock leveller range, through to “Edge of Dock” and “Scissor Lift” dock platforms in all sizes and configurations.

According to Clarke, the Gator dock leveller is worth highlighting. Research, conducted by the company showed that one of the most critical parts for loading docks is the capacity they can carry. As a result, MHE-Demag Australia designed the Gator from scratch to allow up to 20t being carried over the dock leveller, while having the same dimensions as most existing dock pits. This design enables fitting Gators into existing dock pits as well as consideration for current projects that work on standard pit dimensions.

On top of that, MHE-Demag Australia offers a range of industrial door products as well as number of after-market safety and environmental products such as “vehicle restraint systems”, traffic control/communication systems, lights and fans for safety and comfort as well as “dock seals and shelters” that are designed to provide an environmental enclosure in and around loading docks.

Pre and after-sales support

As national sales manager, Clarke is predominantly concerned with building new business and customer relationships by penetrating into a targeted market and territories.

“I also oversee the establishment or addition of vendor and sub-contract specialist resources to accompany our technical abilities to install and service all products within our holistic product portfolio,” he said.

He pointed out that the company is not just about supplying the highest quality products. Making sure customers choose the right solution for their application is the most important concern.

“That’s why we offer a free, no obligation dock survey and site inspection prior to any business engagement, to assist with identifying any potential issues or hazards that can often be overlooked,” he said. “We also focus on constant improvements to provide high standard after-sales service and planned maintenance options to protect our customers’ best investments and provide ‘peace of mind’.”

MHE-Demag Australia has established a strong presence in the Australian food and beverage manufacturing sector. For example, the company is currently in the final stage of completion within the expansion project at the Coca Cola Amatil site in Brisbane. For this project, it has provided a docking solution package incorporating dock levellers, restraint systems and loading lights through F K Gardener & Sons Constructions.

In addition, the company also has docks installed with RED Trucks Logistics & Storage and Style Ergonomics in Sydney. There have also been further successful projects undertaken at various sites through resellers in Victoria, along with the use of industrial door products within DTZ Auburn rail maintenance facility.

The future of logistics

According to Clarke, the importance of logistics has never been greater. “I believe that with the growing demands of an increasing population within Australia there will always be a need for greater logistical presence and efficiency,” he said.

“With the arrival and expansion of global retail giants like Amazon, Costco, Lidl and many more making their way into our growing market, the need for viable and reliable products that assist with the productivity of this sector will be in high demand. Quality is now the growing focus and presence within this modern market and MHE-Demag is renowned for being at the forefront of quality and safety with cranes and lifting equipment. This experience in delivering highest quality solutions now dwells into docking solutions to serve the food and beverage industry.”

MHE-Demag Australia designed the Gator from scratch to allow up to 20t being carried over the dock leveller.
MHE-Demag Australia designed the Gator from scratch to allow up to 20t being carried over the dock leveller.
 Featured

Green machines delivering sustainability and growth

Heat and Control, a maker of equipment for processing, product handling, packaging and inspection, helps food businesses achieve sustainability through innovative manufacturing.

Global population growth combined with demand for a more diverse range of products has seen an increase in the levels of pollution and waste levels resulting from food manufacturing. This provides food makers with a number of challenges, including the need to adopt more efficient and sustainable production methods to meet legislative changes around climate change, or to suit company culture and ethics.

Reducing carbon emissions is driving Heat and Control’s commitment to green manufacturing. The company’s R&D teams are constantly looking at ways to create innovative solutions around water and energy reduction technology, waste treatment/reductions and reclaiming or reusing material. The challenge in green manufacturing is being able to reduce waste and pollution while finding ways to improve equipment design to see higher production efficiencies both in equipment and processes.

“This investment into green manufacturing technologies is something we have long prided ourselves on, and we are continuously looking for ways to develop new processes and enhance the existing methods of use” said Jim Strang, CEO – Heat and Control Asia Pacific and Europe.

“When we design our equipment, sustainability is front of mind. We not only ask ourselves how we can increase yield and efficiencies through automation for our customers, but also how we can reduce emissions and waste.”

Energy savings and pollution reduction

Heat and Control offers complete snack systems for producers of natural potato chips, corn and tortilla chips, and other snacks, plus taco shells, corn tortillas, and tostadas.

Many of these now feature energy saving and pollution control systems, with the company developing a number of heat exchangers that combine the incineration of fryer exhaust pollutants with high-efficiency oil heating to help processors meet emission control regulations.

The Kleenheat pollution control heat exchanger incinerates and removes virtually all odours, oil and other particulates from fryer stack exhaust that would normally pollute the air and area around your plant. Heat and Control’s latest graduated density oil heating tube bundle provides 10 per cent greater thermal efficiency than existing models, and is fully compliant with US, EC, and Australian regulations.

Designing innovative ways to reuse previously exhausted waste gases can increase production efficiency and save energy, while reducing carbon emissions. The Heat and Control heat exchanger with combustion air pre-heater (and booster heater) can preheat cooking oil to boost fryer production by up to 11 – 15 per cent with no extra fuel consumption.

Managing oil use

Frying oil can be an expensive part of food processing and any steps the processor can use to reduce loss or wastage of oil are always welcome. Oil recovery during production not only reduces energy usage, but also sees higher yields through cost savings. Where cooking oil is used during production of the finished food product, Heat and Control has sought solutions to increase oil life.

Using the Oil Sweep System (pictured above), manufacturing operations can recover oil used in French fry production through a bank of cyclones and return it to the fryer oil recovery system. In addition, they can remove solid fines and transfer reusable oil by pump back into the frying system.

Heat exchangers can help manage the use of oil, with low oil volume promoting fast oil turnover and inhibiting the formation of free fatty acids.  Rapid, uniform heat transfer allows fryers to respond more quickly to changes in product load, and protects oil quality by maintaining a low oil film temperature.

Water conservation

Heat and Control has increased its use of recycled water for product and equipment cleaning. High levels of water usage can be costly for food manufacturers, so the company has developed a Water Cleanup System (WCS) for its slice washing system, which reduces fresh water usage up to 50 per cent, compared to conventional slice washing systems. WCS cleans and reuses wash water, concentrates starch and fines for more efficient removal, and reduces sewer loading and the burden on a starch recovery system.

Heat and Control has also developed an oil mist eliminator that removes oil mist from fryer exhaust without the need for water or high-horsepower fans and a heat recovery system which recovers normally lost heat from the fryer exhaust stack. This system condenses otherwise wasted steam to make hot water for blanching, sanitation, or even building heat.

The company offers four standard sizes of Stack Heat Recovery Units (SHRS), and can also tailor design applications to individual needs.  Absorption chiller technology is becoming more common in hotter areas for building air conditioning and the company’s SHRS acts as an ideal heat source.

Blanching potatoes before cooking is a necessary but costly part of the potato production process. The Heat and Control E-FLO system uses Pulse Electric Field Processing (PEF) technology to perforate the cell walls of the potatoes, creating micro holes that allow asparagine and reducing sugars to be removed in a cold water wash. The tissue of the potatoes becomes more permeable, which can eliminate or reduce the need to blanch them before cooking. E-FLO can also increase yield which, in turn, reduces energy use.

All these innovations are intended to help Heat and Control’s customers reduce their pollution and waste levels while increasing operational cost savings through improved manufacturing design. Reducing the environmental impacts of processing can lower energy use and overall costs, while providing food manufacturers with innovative technology that will provide a significant return on investment in the years to come.

The E-FLO system reduces the need to blanch potatoes before cooking them.
The E-FLO system reduces the need to blanch potatoes before cooking them.

 Featured

Packaging solutions for the meat & poultry industries

Signode has 40 years’ experience in supplying innovative, fast, hygienic and reliable strapping machines to the meat and poultry industries. The company’s packaging equipment is manufactured and designed to improve businesses’ bottom lines.

Signode manufactures load containment and protective packaging systems that have been engineered to specific applications; systems that protect products, streamline production and improve profits.

The company knows the meat and poultry industry and understands that, for businesses operating in this sector, the hygiene imperative extends beyond their actual products. By law, for example, packaging machinery used in this sector must be made (internally and externally) with stainless steel.

On top of this important consideration, much like any manufacturer, these businesses are looking for packaging machinery that delivers them speed, accuracy and reliability, while minimising downtime. They want machines that will cut their labour costs and provide good returns on investment.

Signode has become a one stop shop for its customers’ strapping and wrapping needs. The company’s extensive range of equipment, strapping and consumables, backed up with onsite national service and parts supply, suit any application no matter how challenging or demanding.

Strapping machines

Signode makes stainless steel strapping machines to suit low to high volume users, who perform a range of applications and have varying budgets. The company offers everything from entry level semi-automatic machines, right up to fully automated inline strapping machines that can apply as many as 65 straps per minute.

The Signode MST (Pictured above), a semi-automatic, low-cost option for low to moderate volume strapping applications is ready to use in minutes. The machine features an easy-touch LED display control panel and electronic tension adjustment up to 50kg. Available with a full stainless steel body, it also comes with safety switches on each door (including the tabletop cover).

The next step up in terms of speed is the Predator 12 Stainless Steel Automatic (pictured below). An automatic strapping machine manufactured with safety in mind, it is suitable for use in the corrosive environments found in food and meat processing industries, and can apply up to 30 straps per minute.

Features of the Predator 12 Stainless Steel include safety switches on all doors, automatic strap loading, and electronic tension adjustment up to 70kg. It also has an automatic strap eject feature for coil changes and it operates in three modes – manual, tabletop sensor and foot pedal.

Any mis-fed straps are easily and quickly corrected with the Signode Predator’s automatic cut and re-feed feature.

Then there is the top-of-the-line strapping machine, the MOD GPX, which can apply up to 65 straps per minute. Available in automatic and fully automatic inline options, this machine features an entirely modular design that provides unparalleled flexibility and longevity for general purpose strapping machines. Each module can be quickly replaced by operators for desired upgrades or maintenance without disrupting production.

Available in stainless steel for hand presented cartons or fully automated applications, the MOD GPX is ideal for cold, damp environments where corrosion resistance is necessary.

Further features include safety switches, adjustable strap tension up to 90kg, and self-diagnostics.

Given the importance of food safety and the increasing prevalence of food fraud, it is important for food and poultry producers to be able to clearly identify their products.

This imperative makes strapping – rather than say taping or gluing – of boxes a wise choice for these businesses. Signode offers printed strap to compliment export users to identify products for security purposes. This type of identification is particularly valuable for exporters who need to identify themselves in the global supply chain.

Nation-wide support & services

Signode offers more than just quality products. The company’s service, maintenance, engineering and spare parts support help achieve year-on-year uptime for businesses and ultimately reduce their cost of ownership on their machinery.

Before any sales take place, the company works with clients to choose the best machinery for each job. It also conducts audits in order to identify, and then fix operational bottlenecks.

In terms of after sales support, Signode keeps standard equipment in stock to cover maintenance requests and also offers training to enable businesses to fix their own machines, as well as safety training. Service agreements along with preventative maintenance help ensure mechanical issues are fixed before they result in costly downtime.

While the company offers over-the-phone technical support, it realises that this cannot be relied upon in all circumstances. Its field sales and service representation is nation-wide. Importantly, this means that customers in regional areas of Australia are not left out of the service equation.

The company offers flexible buying options for all strapping machines, meaning that customers can either buy outright or take advantage of a rental program.

The Signode package allows customers the peace of mind that they are using safe, reliable, fast, new equipment technology available in full stainless steel or painted finish.

The Predator 12 Stainless Steel Automatic can apply up to 30 straps per minute.
The Predator 12 Stainless Steel Automatic can apply up to 30 straps per minute.

 

 Featured

Total Tips – design and building advice for food & beverage manufacturers

Welcome to Total Tips, a regular column by plant building and design provider, Total Construction about how businesses can ensure they have well-designed, well-functioning manufacturing facilities that give them the best chance to prosper. This issue we hear from Tom Franks, a design engineer at the company.

TIP 2 – Building to hygiene standards helps ensure a clean working environment and decrease the risk of future food safety issues.

Food safety is priority number one for food and beverage manufacturers. As the recent Australian listeria outbreak illustrates, failure to properly address the issue can lead to illness or even death of the people who matter the most, consumers. On top of that are the business costs. Food safety scares can shut down operations and, worse, significantly damage the reputations of food manufacturers.

Maintaining a clean and safe environment all starts with the design and building of the manufacturing facility.

Designing the facility

When it comes to design, there are many rules to follow. Facilities in this sector must not only conform to the National Construction Code, but also to food and beverage design and hygiene standards. On top of that some buyers, such as Woolworths, have their own standards above and beyond the national standards.

Many factors – including bacteria and microbial growth, disease, vermin, and bugs – need to be considered when designing a facility. A good fit out methodology can help reduce the risk of contamination. Employing smooth and impervious surfaces allows for ease of clean down in operations. Areas where this can help include food grade stainless steel; epoxy resin flooring, sandwich panel walls and ceilings; coved and sealed junctions between floors, walls and ceilings; sealed concrete; and so on.

The presence of a food literate process engineer and a food hygienist can help businesses determine what design features will be required and where.

For example, it is important to ensure there are hand wash basins for employees to use after touching food, sneezing, or coughing. Also, there should be sanitation stations at all entries into production areas; male and female change rooms should be provided, with boot scrubbers or boot change areas with swing over benches if required; and colour coded clothing and tools can be used to identify employees working in high or low risk hygiene areas.

The pooling of water where dirt and grime are present can help listeria breed and grow. Good facility design which ensures all floors have appropriate falls to drains can prevent this. However, it is not only pooling on the floors that can cause problems. Drain pipes themselves can also play a big part in bacteria growth. Thankfully, the use of backflow prevention valves in pipes helps prevent this from happening.

Understanding how the client wants to run the facility from entry to exit, knowing the number of employees, and so forth all help to design a safe facility with appropriate hygiene systems.

Building the facility

From time to time, Total hears people describe food factories as “just boxes”. This is, of course, incorrect and, anyway, it’s what is inside the box that matters. If good hygiene practices are not in place, kitchens and food preparation areas can provide optimal environments for bacteria to breed. Minimising the risk of cross-contamination and spread of bacteria and ensuring proper hygiene are critical elements in ensuring the well-being of staff and consumers.

Total has vast experience in the food and beverage manufacturing sector. The company’s deep understanding of hygiene requirements means that they can be relied upon to deliver not only well-functioning, hygienic facilities, but also peace of mind.