A single brand offering for rotating needs in the food and beverage industry

Food and beverage processing plants in Australia will soon have access to a complete range of corrosion-resistant ball bearings and ball bearing housed units from Timken® to meet their rotating equipment needs. Industrial Solutions Australia will have the new Timken products available across its business network of CBC, BSC and Webster BSC branches as early as May. Tony Tormey, Industrial Solutions Australia Product Manager for Industrial Bearings, says the new Timken products have already generated a lot of interest among the industry players. “The food market generally lacks a single brand solution when it comes to bearing requirements. Food and beverage plants that deal with harsh chemicals and aggressive washdowns can benefit from maximising their hygiene levels with Timken’s new corrosion-resistant range,” says Tony. The Timken Company have now, launched a new corrosion-resistant ball bearing product range for applications that require ball bearings to withstand chemical washdowns and wet environments. Read More

The making of Robmac nut harvesters

“We want to build the best machines that we can. Something that will last in the field for many years. To do that, we have to start off with the best components,” says David Eggins of Roberts Machinery, a family-owned company in Alstonville, New South Wales, best known as the manufacturer behind the Robmac macadamia nut harvester machines. David’s father, Robert Eggins, built his first peanut harvester and bagging machine back in 1959 when he was just 19 years old. In 1962, he started the business of Roberts Machinery, which has been designing, building and repairing farm machinery for over 59 years.  With the growth of the macadamia industry in Alstonville, Roberts Machinery became heavily involved in the macadamia industry and 23 years ago, introduced the Robmac harvester, a lightweight stand-alone harvester with the ability to operate efficiently in wet and dry conditions with very low soil compaction.  Today, there are over 240 Robmac harvesters in the field, and service and support of these units has become an important part of the business for Roberts Machinery. The team also runs a production pipeline with three or six harvester units under production at any given time, building an average of 12 to 15 Robmac units each year.
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Keeping the Tim Tams coming

For a lot of Australians, Arnott’s biscuits are associated with sweet memories. From growing up with a vintage Arnott’s biscuit tin, to introducing the delights of a ‘Tim Tam Slam’, Arnott’s products have lodged themselves in the hearts and homes of Australians throughout the iconic brand’s 155-year history. In fact, an estimated 95% of Australian households stock Arnott’s biscuits. Making tasty treats for the nation comes with responsibilities. The maintenance teams at Arnott’s factories work hard to ensure the plants run as efficiently as possible to keep up with the large orders Arnott’s receives. For Paul Nitschke, who works as Maintenance Services Team Leader at Arnott’s Marleston plant in Adelaide, working with the iconic biscuit manufacturer is a source of pride.
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A lubricant for all seasons

Australian company Candan Industries first introduced its popular Inox MX3 product in 1989 as an anti-corrosion and anti-moisture lubricant. The product’s popularity has grown over the years as both industrial and domestic consumers keep finding new applications for it in their everyday maintenance tasks. Inox MX3FG, a low-odour equivalent of the original Inox MX3 was introduced in 2008 to fill a gap for odour-free, food-grade lubricants. Today, the the MX3FG has found widespread popularity in par with the original MX3 product. Read More

BSC helps food manufacturer out of a ‘sticky’ situation

A major food manufacturer in Melbourne had to frequently replace bearings in their filling machine which injects sticky breakfast product into jars. High exposure to moisture and detergents to clean the machine took its toll on the bearings, which necessitated bearing replacements every few months. When BSC sales specialist Jamie Stonehouse learned about the problem, he recommended replacing the standard ball bearings with NSK’s Molded-Oil deep groove ball bearings to extend the machine’s service life. Read More

Gates belt puts biscuits on a sweet ride

Frequent failure of a roller chain at a major biscuit manufacturing plant in South Australia was causing significant delays in production. The chain had broken eight times over a span of 15 months and every time the chain broke, the line had to be stopped completely to replace the chain. BSC recommended changing the existing triplex chains with Gates Poly Chain GT Carbon timing belts, which helped resolve the issue. Read More

Safety in the can

The CRC GREENLIGHT programme is designed to make compliance and auditing simple for food manufacturers – and  that is certainly the case with a cannery on the outskirts of Adelaide in South Australia. BSC Wingfield Sales Representative Robert Harris says because auditors are familiar with the programme, the cannery has found it much easier and faster to manage its auditing process. Read More

How to choose and use threadlockers for farm equipment

LOCTITE anaerobic adhesives have become synonymous with agricultural equipment assembly and maintenance. BSC Product Manager for Adhesives & Sealants, Michael Rowe, explains how LOCTITE threadlockers should be used in the field to provide maximum reliability of locking components into place. “Thermal cycling is as big a problem for fasteners as vibration from the actual machine use is. Generally, agricultural equipment is used outdoors and parked or stored outdoors, so it is exposed to all the elements – heat, morning frosts, rain and so on,” explains Michael. Read More

Keeping Costa mushrooms cool

Costa, a leading Australian mushroom grower and packer, were able to detect  reliability issues in some of the fans that help regulate ventilation for their facility in South Australia. Had the issue not been detected early through vibration analysis, it could have led to more bearing failures. BSC Engineering Solutions Manager Mark Slaughter says the issue of electrical fluting is an increasing cause for bearing failures in VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) driven machines. Read More

Baker Farm truck fleet runs smooth with Alemlube

As a third-generation family business, Baker Farm in the Riverina region of New South Wales is not just a farm producer. The business, which comprises Baker Farm, Baker Grain and Baker Transport, also offers contract farming services, feedlot facilities, freight, and storage of grain, hay and machinery. To help the farm managers maintain all of their equipment in perfect condition with minimal manual work, BSC’s Wodonga branch recommended installing Alemlube Automated Lubrication Systems on the farm’s  truck fleet to automate the greasing, which helps the farm save significantly on maintenance time and costs. Read More