NEWS // #foodnews
Kern helps Isle of Wight Biltong company
The new line has been largely a one-stop-shop investment and has reduced product breakage, giveaway and cleaning downtime while increasing throughput.
250g tins of Ricola herbal drops leave the filling point. The giveaway per can is less than one third of the weight of a single lozenge.
Ishida solution for throat lozenges The introduction of Ishida equipment at world-famous throat lozenge manufacturer Ricola of Laufen in Switzerland has reduced product breakage during packing, as well as markedly increasing throughput and minimising giveaway. Expansion of other activities within the factory meant that a line packing 100, 250 and 400g tins had to be moved. Ricola took the opportunity to upgrade this line, and asked the Ishida distributor in Switzerland, Itech, to come up with a solution that would improve quality by reducing the level of product chipping and breakage. An original Ricola herb drop weighs about 4.2g and contains extract from a special blend of 14 herbs, including marshmallow, peppermint, thyme and sage. Each lozenge is cut from a warm filament, leaving two ridged surfaces which, on cooling, present many brittle facets. While this gives the product a texture and appearance that is very distinctive and much loved, the pieces can easily be damaged by collision with other lozenges or with metal surfaces. On the new line, product arrives via a conveyor equipped with a suction system that removes dust and debris. It then runs via an
elevator to the top of the multihead weigher. The 12-head Ishida weigher is designed with short drop distances, while the discharge chute is divided into sections to minimise product swirling and reduce collisions. The weighed product passes via timing hoppers and chutes to a special filling station installed by Itech, where the tins arrive on a carousel to be filled two at a time. They then move on for lidding and overprinting with batch data. The 100g tins are being packed at 140 packs/min, the 250g tins at 110 packs/min and the 400g tins at 90 packs/min. Ricola says this represents an increase in throughput of 20 percent across all packing formats. At the same time, the accuracy of the weigher means product giveaway is very low - just 1.5g (or less than one third of the weight of a single lozenge) for the 250g tins, for example. Another aspect that Itech had been asked to attend to was cleaning downtime. The new line complies with IP66 standards, enabling it to be conveniently hosed down rather than individual parts having to be removed. One of the factors making this possible is unique to Ishida: a positive pressure maintained within the body of the weigher renders it watertight.
Contact Ishida Europe on tel 0121 607 7700 or visit www.ishidaeurope.com
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Isle of Wight Biltong, a specialist provider of the South African delicacy, believes it is on the brink of huge growth and success thanks to the new vertical form fill and seal equipment it has purchased from KernPack. Sarah Greeff, owner of Isle of Wight Biltong, said: “We are a currently a small company but are anticipating huge growth based on vastly increased capacity that the Kern equipment will enable. Our capability will skyrocket and we believe there is a huge market for our unique recipe and natural, additive and nitrate-free ingredients.” Sarah says that they are anticipating benefits in three key areas: “Firstly, the air-tight seal is so good that the shelf-life of products can now be extended from three months to one year which will make us hugely more attractive to big distributors, wholesalers and supermarkets. Secondly, we will be able to produce packs with printed film and date coding which means products look far more professional and trustworthy which is important from a consumer point of view. Logistically, the speed of the equipment is fantastic, in fact the Kern Vertical Form Fill and Seal can pack bags far faster than we can currently weigh.” Pete Jolley, Kern’s General Manager, said: “We will be providing two days of training after installation to ensure that everything goes smoothly for Isle of Wight Biltong. The machine is very simple to operate and has a very small footprint for such a fast piece of kit, making it ideal for the Biltong operation as they have limited space.” The purchase was made possible thanks to an interest free loan from the Isle of Wight Lottery and a generous grant by DEFRA which meant Isle of Wight Biltong could consider the purchase of arguably the best-engineered equipment on the world market. Having reviewed three competing companies it was clear that Kern’s equipment was superior and the Greeffs were happy to support another Hampshire-based company.
Contact KernPack on tel 0845 680 6060 or visit www.kern.co.uk