Food and Beverage Problem Solvers

An industrial baker faced a challenge when two PVC conveyor belts kept causing dough to stick to the conveyor surface. Sticky dough was in some cases wrapping around the belt after compression, causing mis-tracks, slippage and pulsation which was damaging product quality. 

A beverage filling company in the UK wanted to lower their total cost of ownership (TCO) by improving operational safety, efficiency and productivity for their beverage product lines. Rexnord Engineered Sustainability products can generate a number of benefits.

In the water bottling plant four conveyors were lubricated by spraying large volumes of water mixed with a soluble lubricant. This created a highly humid environment and including slippery floors, foam formation, plant inefficiencies, energy waste and frequent cleaning. The solution was an SKF Dry Lubrication System. 

Deb® InstantFOAM Complete is the world’s first alcohol-based foam hand sanitiser, that’s been specifically proven to be fully virucidal, yeasticidal and bactericidal, killing 99.999% of germs and bacteria.

All the lubrication you need - new engineered plastic used in conveyor chains to ensure high speed without the need for external lubrication.

A large pet food manufacturer was experiencing issues with the roller chains on its conveyor system. The chains were failing after just six months and were contaminated with debris attracted by the excess oil applied to the conveyor. The Fenner® PLUS lubrication-free chain was suggested.

It is no surprise premature bearing failures lead to increased downtime and replacement costs. What is surprising is that the solution could be down to the original fit! Simatec has a handy tool to reduce bearing fitting issues.

RCS (Respirable Crystalline Silica) dust can lead to respiratory diseases such as Silicosis, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Lung Cancer. It's a key concern for the HSE and by extension many businesses. Bosch can enable clean work and ensure regulatory compliance.

Small bore bearings need to be installed using fit-for-purpose tools, otherwise hard to spot damage and stress could occur leading to premature failures. Simatec offers the perfect kit. 

A food manufacturing company were experiencing issues when repairing their stainless steel equipment. Maintenance staff were using cobalt drills which were inadequate to carry out the repairs, leading to work hardening when drilling. Thankfully Presto had a suitable alternative...

All food manufacturers know the efficiency of cooking vessels is an important consideration. Any opportunity to increase the productivity of the process and improve the efficiency of the heat transfer is taken. This could be achieved by selecting a specially designed valve from TLV.

One manufacturer required their maintenance personnel to re-lubricate every single bearing after each washdown. This was costly and labour intensive, but seemingly couldn't be avoided since the bearings needed lubrication and washdowns had to be done. To alleviate this issue, SKF has developed a range of bearings for use in food and beverage...

When working with harsh temperatures standard bearings may fail regularly leading to unplanned downtime and significant lost production. At times like these a specially designed bearing from SKF could help you take the heat.

One food and beverage manufacturer was experiencing problems in their distribution centre. Fine dust covered much of the equipment which was working its way past the sealing lips causing the shaft to wear and ultimately causing seal failure and leakage. For worn shafts SKF has a solution to ensure protection.

During washdowns high-pressure water based cleaning combined with caustic cleaning agents can cause bearing seals to be compromised leading to lubricant leakage and bearing failure. SKF has an alternative solution for bearings in unavoidably high levels of moisture and other contaminants. 

When reviewing energy efficiency part of the process should involve compressed air consumption costs. Surprisingly, compressed air can still be consumed during downtimes and breaks - but with a little module from Festo can offer transparency and much needed energy savings.

Over time, frequent clean downs on mixing lines could lead to corrosion on cylinders if not designed to handle such aggressive cleaning. After inspecting the application a Festo cylinder with an 'all clean design' was recommended.

Hot water is an integral part of food and beverage manufacturing, a number of processes can rely on it including wash downs. When your current heating system is failing to produce the required hot water fast enough a solution needs to be found. And luckily, TLV has it...

The removal of spent grains was limiting production at a distillery. The existing system used compressed air to remove the build up taking over 50 minutes to empty completely. In addition to the lost time compressed air was expensive so the cost of removal was high. Thankfully, SEEPEX had a solution which could reduce the removal time to 25 minutes...

A craft brewer found their demand grew rapidly and needed new kegging equipment to handle the volume but had very limited space. IMI came up with an unusual yet effective solution which met all of the requirements. 

A dairy manufacturer was having an issue with their line that places the foil lids onto yogurt pots. They use a vacuum generator to hold the foil lid as it is placed on the pot. However the vacuum would stay live even if a lid wasn't picked up, causing product to be sucked up. This created an ingress which needed to be cleaned and the product batch would have to be scrapped. Sensing solutions proved to be costly so they sought alternatives. Festo proved to have a genius yet simple alternative that worked.

Lighting solutions in a food preparation area must comply with the latest regulations. To support in this area Thorn Zumtobel has focused on cleanroom requirements to develop compliant lighting solutions. 

A salad vegetable processor was removing processing waste via horizontal grinders over wide throat pumps. This was problematic as they weren't hygienic and product bridged above the cutters of the grinder resulting in serious production downtime and excessive repair costs. To combat this a SEEPEX pump which was better suited to the application was recommended...

A confectionary was experiencing high control cable failures on its Sorting Beds, resulting in frequent downtime for the company causing a reduction in production volumes. The standard cables used were subject to constant flexing motion for which they were not designed leading to failure approximately every 5 weeks. The good news was igus had the perfect solution.

A blue chip drinks manufacturer was having an issue when using pneumatic tube for transfer of water through to part of their machine. They were finding over time that they were getting discolouration on the tube and the tubing was becoming brittle, causing leaks and a requirement to change it on a regular basis. They no longer have to worry about it now thanks to tubing from Festo...

A grain plant was having major problems with the routine replacement of bearings in a bucket elevator. The bearings were in a cramped and inaccessible location, so when they needed replacing, the entire plant had to be shut down, and other components dismounted in order to get at them. SKF have an ideal solution for inaccessible locations.

A major food company was forced to issue a recall after tiny pieces of metal were found within their products. An investigation found that these were coming from the processing machine bearings, which were badly corroded. This corrosion was a result of water and caustic cleaning chemicals entering the bearings during the frequent intensive wash downs required by food safety regulations. They installed a specially designed ball bearing from SKF so it would never happen again...

Water is used in a variety of environments, it could be part of the manufacturing process itself right through to the cleaning procedures. Trouble is, water and electrical equipment should never meet but navigating this can seem impossible. If you need a drive to be fitted close then WEG has the answer for you...

In some manufacturing environments cabling may be subjected to flexing motions when operated as well as temperature changes. This can result in cables needing frequent replacement, which isn't a cost effective long term solution. If this sounds familiar it may be time to explore igus' range of cables...

One company was looking for a solution which would eliminate the need for external lubrication without making any concessions to can filling speed and line efficiency on their filling line. It was a tall order, but Rexnord had the perfect solution with no compromises.