MU January / February 2013

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Issue 1, Volume XXIV.January/February 2013 The machinery only journal for processing and packaging inside The drinks industry continues to invest despite drenching News Richard Little is the new president of the PPMA Group of Associations Installations Müller Dairy has upgraded and re-engineered an underperforming line to improve efficiencies Drinks This fully automated and flexible TLM beverage line is used to contract pack German beers Plus: Labelling, coding & marking Regulations Who what where

Issue 1, Volume XXIV.January/February 2013

The machinery only journal for processing and packaging

inside

The drinks industry

continues to invest

despite drenching

News

Richard Little is the new

president of the PPMA

Group of Associations

Installations

Müller Dairy has upgraded

and re-engineered an

underperforming line to

improve efficiencies

Drinks

This fully automated and

flexible TLM beverage line

is used to contract pack

German beers

Plus:

Labelling, coding & marking

Regulations

Who what where

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Making a commitment

Providing fast, accurate and reliable equipment is bread and butter stuff for

manufacturers like Markem-Imaje, but as customers strive to secure a sustainable

future, the leading marking and coding supplier has shown that much more

is possible.

Martin Bailey, Markem-Imaje UK operations manager, says: “We started by asking

ourselves how we could really make a difference in a market place saturated with

promises to maximise efficiency.

“What if Markem-Imaje could provide a performance guarantee? What if we could

remove financial risk and offer known costs that could be built into a fixed budget in

advance? Or provide a framework that would allow customers to upgrade technology

at an appropriate time, without capital financing?”

For Markem-Imaje, this has meant a focusing on supporting businesses in three key

areas: prevention, self-reliance and reassurance.

Prevention

Preventative Maintenance contracts cover Markem-Imaje coders

and labellers. The benefits include:

• Service exchange – fully factory reconditioned replacement

machines provided within 24 hours (model dependent)

• Scheduled maintenance – scheduled weekday visits by Markem-

Imaje trained engineers

• Free labour and travel – No charge for labour and travel on

scheduled maintenance visits

• Parts Kits – recommended wear parts supplied and fitted as part

of the contract

• Discount on parts – additional wear parts provided at discount

• Free upgrades – machine software upgrades provided free of charge.

Supporting self-reliance

Helping businesses to be as self-reliant as possible means delivering

the day to day support that is needed to resolve minor problems

rapidly and eliminate unnecessary production line stoppages.

• Before the purchase of new coding or labelling equipment,

analysis is completed to ensure the installation is carried out

efficiently and machines deliver a consistently high print quality

to fully satisfy retailer and industry requirements

• Structured training for production line operatives and

maintenance teams helps improve user confidence and delivers

effective first-line support.

Reassurance a priority

Technical support is never more than a phone call away via the

24/7 Helpline staffed by trained engineers but if a problem does

occur, reassurance is Markem-Imaje’s first priority.

• As a global organisation, Markem-Imaje has a vast network of

resources which have been aligned to ensure a secure local

option can be provided, whenever and wherever it’s needed

• Experienced engineers, who know the equipment inside out,

will help to define exactly what is required, recommend an

immediate plan of action and arrange any necessary actions to

minimise downtime.

These are the service commitments from Markem-

Imaje to deliver business continuity, profitability

and self-reliance improving manufacturing

processes across the packaging industry.

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printing at up to 600mm per second, twice the speed of

other printers, increasing line efficiency and reducing costs.

Markem-Image is the only manufacturer to offer 18

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uk@markem-imaje.co.uk

ppma matters

It’s really easy to get fat

with a clear conscience

May I begin this column by

wishing our readers a very Happy

& Prosperous New Year!

Having gorged ourselves on

turkeys twice the size of Santa’s

pot-belly and waddled back

to our offices carrying that

all-encompassing burden; the New

Year Resolution, I wonder how

many of us have committed to go

on a diet and get more exercise?

80%? 90%? I know that I have and

so have my colleagues at the

PPMA! The trouble is, this tired old

resolution is almost doomed to failure because the fact is; food has

become more than a means of sustenance - it has become a sign

of social status and life style. Food, I’m afraid to say - is fashionable!

We only have to count the plethora of cookery programmes to

see how addicted the greater populous has become to this national

obsession. We have become a nation of food obsessives. These

days, the food obsessive approaches their supermarket shop in

much the same way as an A-list fashionista approaches a catwalk

show! They have a gimlet eye for pretty packaging and pick their

groceries, at least in part, because of what they say about them.

According to pundits in the industry, ‘foodistas’ like to invest in

grocery shopping because when times are tough, it is a little luxury

that you can afford and it is a means of making a social statement. I

recently queried a friend’s choice to spend nearly £5 on a packet of

‘organic fair-trade’ cheese biscuits. Her weak defence was captured

in the phrase: “…but they taste nice and they look so classy on the

shelf in the kitchen!” We may not splash out on designer clothes or

a new car but we can treat ourselves to a nicer brand of chocolate

biscuit without breaking the bank.

Consequently, luxury food brands are bucking the general

downward trend that we are beginning to see in the wider retail

sector. This is good news for food manufacturers as it means that

with the right strategy, ie one of innovation and differentiation;

fair-trade, environmental sustainability and the usual ‘ethical’

pedigree, they can increase sales at a time when all too many

companies are seeing a decrease.

But where does this leave us as regards that infamous New

Year Resolution? Well I suspect that we shall still fail to eat less

but we shall happily pay more to maintain that ever increasing

waistline by purchasing higher priced, better quality products in

an attractive and ethically sound packet! As, like many of our

readers, I support the industry manufacturing these products I

can only say – bring it on!

It’s so much easier to get fat with a clear conscience!

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news

Will positive year-end

continue into this one?

At the end of 2012, mechanical

engineering firms reported enquiry

and order levels broadly balanced

with slightly more firms doing

better than in the same period in

2011, says the Engineering and

Machinery Alliance’s (EAMA)

Business Monitor.

According to the three-month

running average, enquiry levels

ended the year as positively as

they had 2011 for UK business

and mildly ahead on exports but

the outcomes for orders were

not as good as 2011.

“If corporate confidence

turns out to be well placed,

we’ll see some improvements

on 2012 in the year ahead as

companies reported positive

confidence balances for the

third month in a row, which

itself is quite a change from the

zig-zag changes experienced

earlier in the year,” says EAMA

chairman Martin Walder.

“However there’s still

volatility in the market as was

clearly seen in the big changes

in November month on month

record with more firms

reporting UK orders down

while the opposite happened

for exports where there was a

significant increase in the

number of firms recording

higher orders to produce a

positive balance of plus seven

after a minus twenty a month

earlier,” he continues. “So the

fourth quarter hasn’t delivered

all we had hoped for, but the

position for many UK

mechanical engineering firms

is promising.”

PPMA names new president

Managing director of Jenton

International Richard Little is

the new president of the

Processing and Packaging

Machinery Group of

Associations (PPMA), taking

over from Alan Yates of

Endoline Machinery, who was

president for four years.

Little has an impressive

pedigree with the PPMA: his

father was a founder member

of the association and a much

respected member of the

board while he himself has

been show director for the last

four years. As the association

regains control of the PPMA

Show it is a perfect time for

him to take the helm, says

ceo Chris Buxton.

“Alan has set a very high

standard to follow and it is a

great honour to be asked to

take over,” says Little. “Since

its inception, the purpose of

New company joins sustainability scheme

The latest machinery

company to join the Blue

Competence sustainability

initiative launched by the

VDMA (German Engineering

Richard Little of Jenton International is the new PPMA president

the PPMA has been to help

members do business and

that hasn’t changed.

“The PPMA Show is the

centrepiece of the portfolio of

member benefits and my

priority is to work with the

excellent team at Wallington

to further develop it once it

returns in-house for the 2014

Federation) is Multivac.

The scheme highlights the

strengths of the German

machine engineering industry

in sustainability including

event,” he explains.

Yates says it has been a

privilege to occupy the

position of president for the

last four years, not least

steering the Group through

two recessions. He continues

in his role as the associations

director of finance.

www.ppma.co.uk

technologies and processes

which reduce energy

consumption, save raw

materials and reduce

emissions to a minimum.

Opportunities

to build skills

Businesses across the

country can now bid for a

share of a £150 million pot to

create the training schemes

they need to grow their

companies, according to

Skills Minister Matthew

Hancock.

The fund is the second

round of the Employer

Ownership Pilot (EOP) which

is already giving nearly £70

million to companies

including Nissan, Whitbread

and GE Aviation, with

projects ranging from

extending skills training to

local suppliers, to doubling

the number of female

apprentices.

Government investment in

EOP for rounds one and two

now totals £250 million.

“I would encourage

businesses – large and small

– to be ambitious and

innovative in their vision for

how the fund can help them

grow, from creating new

apprenticeship programmes

to setting up specialist

training academies.

The round two prospectus

is now available online at

www.ukces.org.uk/employer

ownership and the deadline

for bids is 28 February.

Pro2Pac show

This year’s Pro2Pac, the

processing and packaging

exhibition dedicated to the

food and drink sector, has a

new position at the entrance

to IFE13 food and drink

event and takes place 17-20

March at ExCeL, London.

Visitors will be greeted by

over 130 exhibitors and

features including the

Sustainable Solutions Zone

and a seminar programme.

Visit the website to register

for free entry.

www.pro2pac.co.uk

www.machineryupdate.co.uk

MACHINERY UPDATE: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

news

Saving energy

Recent research by Attitudes

to UK Industry has shown that

investing in energy saving

technology and sustainable

energy sources has the

potential to deliver substantial

dividends to companies in

more ways than might be

obvious. In fact, the research

found that two in five people

trust companies that invest in

energy saving and sustainable

sources of energy more than

businesses that do not.

“The growing importance of

sustainability within people’s

priorities and the effect it is

having on their purchasing

choices is becoming clear to

see,” says Gareth Dean, UK

director at Rockwell

Automation. “These powerful

figures alone show the

commercial sense it makes to

invest in sustainable energy.”

New UKIVA role

UK managing director of

Framos Electronics Julian

Parfitt has joined the UK

Industrial Vision Association

(UKIVA) management

committee. He has a wealth

of experience in the image

processing field, and perfectly

complements the current

committee structure.

Julian Parfitt of Framos

“Julian joins a strong group

of leading players in the UK

vision industry to help the

association become even

stronger and continue its

objective of promoting and

growing the use of vision,”

says UKIVA chairman Mark

Williamson.

Free entry is open for

PPMA Group awards

This year’s PPMA Group

awards are now open for

business with free and

multiple entries for everyone

including end users of

machinery, PPMA members

and non-PPMA members

invited. The closing date for

entries is fast approaching and

is Friday 1 March.

Taking place on the opening

night of the Total Processing

and Packaging exhibition

(Tuesday 4 June), the awards

evening promises to be a true

celebration of the very best in

British manufacturing. “The

benefits of winning awards are

well documented, but an

accolade endorsed by the

leading trade association has

to be the ultimate

achievement,” says Grant

Collier, head of marketing at

the PPMA. “We are delighted

to confirm that ABB, Festo,

Linx Printing Technologies,

Total Processing & Packaging

Show, Sutton Winson, tna,

Ultimate Car Control and

Machinery Update have

signed up as sponsors to

support the event,” he

continues.

Awards will be presented in

each of the PPMA, BARA,

PMMDA and UKIVA sectors,

while a range of further

awards will ensure that

excellence is recognised

throughout the industry.

Awards will be shortlisted and

judged by a fully independent

judging panel of industry

specialists.

The awards categories are

as follows: Most Innovative

Processing or Packaging

Machine; Processing and

Packaging Machinery

Manufacturer of the Year;

Most Innovative Machine

Vision Project; Most

Innovative Automation System

of the Year; Most Innovative

Automation System of the

Year; Polymer Equipment

Manufacturer or Distributor of

the Year; Exporter of the Year;

Exceptional Sales or

Company Growth Award;

Partnership of the Year

Award; Apprentice of the

Year 2013; Customer Service

Award and Outstanding

Achievement. This final award

is open to anyone in the

industry of any age that has

contributed something

outstanding to the industry

over the past few years.

Entries should be posted to:

Grant Collier, PPMA Group

2013 Awards, PPMA Ltd,

34 Stafford Road, Wallington,

Surrey SM6 9AA or emailed

to: grant.collier@ppma.co.uk

For further queries

contact Grant Collier on

020 8773 8111.

Alliance strengthens carton offer

In a move designed to

strengthen its position in the

design and manufacture of

cartoning machinery, Kliklok

International has announced a

new strategic alliance with

Smurfit Kappa Machine

Systems, suppliers of end of

line corrugated packaging

equipment.

Both companies are based in

Save the date: This year's PPMA Group awards gala dinner will take

place on Tuesday 4 June which is the opening night of the Total

Processing & Packaging exhibition in Birmingham

Bristol and will share resources,

information and capabilities.

Combining this knowledge and

experience in this competitive

market, the two will be able to

offer customers a wider range

of packaging solutions including

end load, top load and

wraparound cartoning

machinery as well as case

erectors, case packers and

robotic case loaders.

“Our new alliance with

Smurfit Kappa Machine

Systems represents an

exciting prospect for both

companies, and we are very

much looking forward to

working closely together on

new projects,” says Kliklok

sales director Graham

Holbrook.

8 MACHINERY UPDATE: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

www.machineryupdate.co.uk

Perfect machine DNA

The evolution of packaging machine control

MX2 Compact inverter series

• Sensorless vector

• Safety embedded

•

• Up to 15kW rating

Sysmac Automation Platform

Tel: +44 (0)1908 258258

Email: uk@eu.omron.com

Web: www.industrial.omron.co.uk

26/10/11 4:16 p

news

Service makes USA

exports much easier

TÜV SÜD Product Service

has launched a Field

Labelling service to

help UK and European

manufacturers of electrical

and electronic machinery

export to the USA more

easily.

Field Labelling is a

mandatory requirement for

most bespoke electrical and

electronic machinery used

in manufacturing

commercial sites in the

USA. Premises that use

uncertified equipment can

be fined or shut down.

The new service is

designed to reduce

An Ishida apprentice has

been named Runner Up in

the ‘First Year Apprentice

of the Year’ category of the

EEF Midlands Region

Future Manufacturing

Awards.

Daniel Althorp, who joined

Ishida Europe in 2011, beat

several hundred applicants

from leading companies

including Rolls Royce and

Jaguar Land Rover, to

reach the final shortlist of

just six apprentices. The

award recognises the

apprentice who has done

the most to seize the

training and development

opportunities presented to

complexity and cost, as it

offers European

manufacturers a combined

local and USA based

service, as well as a nextday

option for time-sensitive

projects. Engineers will visit

the machine manufacturer

on site to complete an initial

evaluation of the equipment

against compliance

requirements.

Once the equipment is

installed in the USA, local

engineers will complete the

process, verifying the

original evaluation report

and confirming the

installation is in accordance

Award reflects skills focus

A report that issues a clear

call to action for UK

businesses to manage

energy well and make it a

strategic issue has been

published by The London

School of Economics and

Political Science.

The npower Future

Report – Energy and the

L-R: Nic Erskine

from Semta,

learning and

development

manager at

Ishida Europe

Simon Cutler,

Runner Up Daniel

Althorp and

Richard Halstead,

EEF regional

director

them during the first

year of their engineering

or manufacturing

apprenticeship programme.

Althorp is part of a

recently-introduced

co-ordinated Learning and

Development programme

within Ishida which includes

economy: The 2030

outlook for UK Businesses

reflects upon the need for a

balanced focus on

economic growth and

investment in the energy

infrastructure to deliver a

low carbon and strong UK

economy. It also calls on

businesses to act now to

with the specific

requirements.

“The USA is a huge

market opportunity for

many European

businesses, but the

complexity and costs

associated with gaining

these specific approvals

mean that those

opportunities are not often

fully exploited,” says Jean-

Louis Evans, managing

director of TÜV SÜD

Product Service. “Our new

service takes the pain away

and delivers a simple, fast

and cost effective solution.”

www.tuv-sud.co.uk

four year apprenticeship

and two year graduate

training schemes along

with structured

development programmes

to enhance the skills and

knowledge of existing

personnel.

www.ishidaeurope.com

Making energy a strategic issue is vital

ensure they are protected

for the future.

“A focus on energy

efficiency and making good

use of self-generation

energy technologies are

also crucial,” says Wayne

Mitchell, industrial and

commercial markets

director at npower.

10 MACHINERY UPDATE: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

www.machineryupdate.co.uk

John has some bad

news for his boss…

He didn’t know Multivac makes Tray

Sealers and the one he has just bought is

more expensive and slower!

Multivac is well known for high speed, high quality

Thermoformers. What is less well known is that Multivac

has been making Tray Sealers for nearly 30 years and has

100s operating in the UK. Our range stretches from table top

machines for Butchers or Delis, through to high speed, twin

lane machines for Ready Meals, Meat, Poultry, Fish and

Fresh Produce.

Challenge Multivac… whatever you are packing, we will

not be beaten on speed, quality and value. All our packaging

equipment is backed by Multivac’s unrivalled support offer

that includes: 25 Service Engineers based throughout the

UK, Training Centre, Helpdesk and UK held Spares.

Add us to your shortlist and find out how a Multivac could

save you money by calling us on 01793 425880 or email

us on: traysealing@multivac.co.uk

www.multivac.co.uk

www.machineryupdate.co.uk

MACHINERY UPDATE: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

new machinery

Robot control

is smarter

The latest robot controller to

be introduced by Fanuc

offers smart features to help

take control and productivity

to the next level. Four key

areas allow the new R-30iB

robot controller to save floor

area, programme faster and

easier, save power and

maximise productivity.

Overall volume of the

compact new design is

reduced by 68% to measure

500 x 600 x 470mm while for

multi-robot systems where the

controller is able to stack up,

the new design allows three to

be stacked to reduce floor

space requirements by 77%.

Using the same platform as

the new Fanuc 30i CNC

controller, the new controller

packs the same power as its

larger predecessor.

Improved energy efficiencies

are offered to help contribute

towards higher profit margins.

Automatic motor braking, after

exceeding programmed idle

period, allows motors to

reduce power but still maintain

arm position. Similarly, cooling

fans are stopped when not

required and regeneration of

power is enabled through an

optional unit.

Improved software features

provide opportunities for

reducing cycle times.

024 7663 9669

www.fanuc.eu

Catering for non-food

This Cama Monobloc loading unit for packaging tubs of hair gel is available from

the recently launched non-food division

Producer of secondary

packaging systems Cama

Group has launched a new

non-food division.

“The machines we have

already developed have been

engineered to respond to the

needs of the household and

personal care industries,”

explains sales manager of the

new business unit Giuseppe

Giallombardo. “We can offer

more compact and

competitive end of line

systems for packaging

personal care products such

as shampoos, deodorants,

sanitary napkins and wipes in

cardboard and paperboard

boxes as well as all kinds of

household products.”

Both efficiency and quality

are necessities for achieving

success in every sector and

the Italian company says that it

has refined the handling

solutions for delicate products

by dealing with many blue chip

companies in the food industry.

Transferring technologies

across the end user sectors has

already brought success and

has seen the company gain

several important orders from a

well-known French group.

“The added value offered by

Cama equipment includes the

ability to combine packaging

machines and robots in a very

limited space,” explains

Giallombardo. “This not only

optimises the footprint but also

the costs of the equipment.”

01793 831111

www.camagroup.com

Testing packaging for leaks just got easier

Witt’s new Leak-Master Easy

provides a reasonably priced

leak testing solution that works

without trace gas. Instead,

only water and compressed air

are used to operate the system.

It is suitable for testing

almost all food,

pharmaceutical, industrial and

consumer packaging,

including vacuum packs.

Test packaging is placed in

a water-filled chamber for the

leak test and the air space

above the water level is

evacuated using a Venturi

nozzle. The immersed

packaging inflates due to the

resultant vacuum. Air or filling

gas escapes at leaking points,

bubbling up clearly in less

than 30 seconds.

01925 234466

www.wittgas.com

THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTERS - INKJET CODERS - HOT FOIL PRINTERS

Thermocode iQ

‘state-of-the-art ‘

thermal transfer printing

World Class Coding & Marking Systems

+44 (0)20 8655 4999 sales@opendate.co.uk www.opendate.co.uk

getting you

up to speed

new machinery

Space-saving inspection unit

Mettler-Toledo Garvens says

its new XE100 CC Compact is

the first product inspection

system to integrate

checkweighing and metal

detection technologies using a

single short conveyor.

The technology has been

developed to verify pack

weight and identify

contamination from metal

fragments in bulk food,

chemicals and plastics while

minimising machine footprint

to make it ideal for

manufacturers with limited

factory floor space.

Designed to accommodate

large products and bulk items,

the unit can inspect up to 80

products a minute, ranging in

sizes up to 60kg per package.

The space-saving system can

be easily integrated into

production lines and offers an

intuitive interface that requires

minimal training to operate.

Accurate load cell

technology gives precise,

consistent weighing. When

over or underweight products

are detected, the conveyor

stops and an alarm is sounded

which allows operators to

remove it from the line. The

metal detection technology

has a small metal free zone of

150mm for non-movable parts

and 300mm at movable parts.

The system is easy to clean

and maintain while the

conveyor belt design includes

a quick release mechanism.

This allows it to be replaced

quickly without the need to

dismantle or remove

mechanical parts.

0116 235 7070

www.mt.com

OEE measuring

Bosch Packaging Technology

has introduced a mobile

measuring system which has

been designed as a cost

effective and time-saving

method of capturing OEErelevant

data for the analysis

of overall equipment

effectiveness.

It enables manufacturers to

gain a rapid overview of the

OEE of their production lines

and serves as a basis for

equipment optimisation. The

unit, in the form of a portable

box, can be used both on its

own and together with Bosch

OEE Consulting service.

The unit provides the

required data on output,

speed, downtimes and waste.

01332 626262

www.boschpackaging.com

www.machineryupdate.co.uk

installation news

Space saving

feed system

A high speed feed system

that saves factory space by

reducing the length of flow

wrapping lines has been

developed by PFM with the

first units now employed

handling frozen burgers.

In this first application of

the new feed system, three

integrated flow wrapping

lines have been installed by

PFM to handle a total of 600

burgers a minute, arriving

from the freezer via a

common bulk feed.

Based on a combination of

a rotating disc feeder to

accept and orientate bulk

product and a pair of worm

screws to separate and space

individual items for the

wrapping process, the system

reduces line length by up to

3 metres, compared with a

standard multi-belt feeder.

“Increasing or decreasing

the space between products

to bring them in phase with

the flow wrapper has

traditionally required a

considerable amount of line

length and often needs

feeders with up to eight

belts,” explains PFM sales

and operations director Chris

Bolton. “However the new

system maintains positive

control of the product.”

0113 239 3401

www.pfmuk.com

Robot system smooths

Heinz production flow

Heinz has installed a new end

of line palletising system at its

Telford, ‘single serve’

production facility to smooth

product flow and increase

output.

Three Kawasaki robots

used in the system palletise

single serve sachets from four

lines and plastics (bottled

product) from a fifth line. The

robots have freed up operator

time allowing upstream filling

machinery to be more

efficiently managed and output

to be increased.

The main constraint on the

new system was the limited

space availability which is why

Heinz chose the system that

incorporated the compact

Kawasaki RD80 palletising

robots. The system comprises

five conveyor feeds from each

of the filling machines taking

product to a pick up location in

the robot palletising area.

One of the three robots is

dedicated to plastics

containers and the other two

take product from the four

sachet lines.

“The process we automated

runs three shifts a day five

days a week and previously

operator time was dominated

by the manual handling of

Heinz Telford has installed three Kawasaki RD80 palletising robots

boxes onto pallets at the end

of the line,” explains Graham

Boyle, manufacturing

development manager at

Heinz Telford. “Very little

operator time was available to

mind the filling machine.”

Although the final

performance outcome of

installing this new equipment

was uncertain at first, Boyle

says that soon after it was

commissioned, the

performance of the filling

machine increased. “The

system freed up the operator

for each machine allowing

more time to sort materials

and organise more

effectively,” he says.

The Kawasaki RD80 robots

are programmed to handle up

to 13 variants of case with each

robot able to palletise onto two

pallet locations and with

different product, if required,

palletised on each pallet.

In operation, oriented cases

of sachets arrive into the robot

cell and, dependent on the

program, are picked up either

one or two at a time and

placed onto the pallet. For

less stable cartons the robot

grippers are designed to

handle cardboard layer pads.

The robot cells are

controlled using the latest

E Series controller which

smoothly controls the robots

five axes movement at high

speed and uses its in-built

PLC for integration of safety

and cell peripheral equipment.

01925 713000

www.kawasakirobot.co.uk

Automated Handling & Logistic Solutions

www.conveyorsystemsltd.com

● Pallet Conveying ● Carton Handling ● Order Picking ● Elevator Solutions

installation news

Sealing with vision

AutoCoding Systems has

worked with Dairy Crest,

Davidstow to devise a vision

system that analyses and

identifies vacuum failures on

sealed packs of 20kg blocks

of cheese.

Dairy Crest, Davidstow

produces over 48,000

tonnes of cheddar cheese a

year in 20kg blocks, 80% of

this being the Cathedral City

brand. These 20kg blocks

are vacuum sealed to

prevent air leaking into the

cheese prior to the 12-18

month maturation cycle.

This new vision system

identifies any failures.

It comprises a camera

driven software application

that analyses the reflected

light from the surface of the

vacuum sealed cheese

block and rejects the block if

it doesn’t meet the defined

criteria. Reports are then

generated to help monitor

and identify potential

problems with the sealing

and packing process.

This new system replaces

the original ‘in-house’ design

that had been running in the

factory for almost 10 years

and had become obsolete.

www.machineryupdate.co.uk

This shows the image captured by the camera compared to the

actual cheese. This pack would pass but if the number of green

highlighted areas drops below a defined threshold, it would fail.

Initially, AutoCoding faced

challenges such as

variations in size, colour and

surface texture of the cheese

blocks making it difficult to

adjust the camera and image

processing to capture all

defects while not resulting in

a false alarm for good seals.

“Achieving the correct

balance between success

and failure was critical,” says

Janet Harrison of

AutoCoding Systems.

“We are already reaping

the benefits of the system in

terms of cost savings,” says

Neil Flood, automation

engineer at Dairy Crest.

“Any blocks of cheese with

faulty seals that slipped

through our old system and

were stored for maturation

would result in us having to

downgrade contaminated

product.

“We now have an efficient

and reliable system which

gives us meaningful and

useful data which allows us

to continually improve our

sealing and packing

process,” he continues. In

addition, the company has

been able to refocus one of

its production line operators

from checking for failed

seals to other tasks.

01928 790444

www.autocodingsystems.com

Flow wrapping herbs gently

Redpack Packaging

Machinery has supplied an

HTS flow wrapping

machine to a Scottish

company for packaging

collations of herbs.

Loose or bunched herbs

are operator fed to marked

product positions on a

dished infeed conveyor

belt, the machine pauses

while the infeed positions

are being filled and then

automatically feeds the

loaded herbs into the

wrapping module. This

wrapping sequence can be

The HTS from Redpack is flow wrapping herbs in Scotland

switched to continuous

wrapping with machine

speeds between 20-100

packs a minute being

achieved.

For flat pack presentation,

the product outfeed is fitted

with a rotary air excluder

that is synchronised to

product flow.

01603 722280

www.redpack.co.uk

Metal

Detection

Systems

The Phantom Building

7 Beaumont Road, Banbury

OX16 1RH United Kingdom.

Tel: +44 (0)1295 256266

info@fortresstechnology.co.uk

www.fortresstechnology.co.uk

installation news

OEE systems

Cimlogic has been selected

to provide an OEE system at

chewing gum manufacturer

Wrigley at its Plymouth site.

Cimlogic will implement

TrakSYS real time operations

and performance

management software to

measure and improve the

efficiency of Wrigley’s

production lines as part of the

company’s commitment to

continually improving people,

products and services.

“We selected Cimlogic to

assist us in our lean

manufacturing journey as we

believe they are perfectly

positioned to provide us with

the right tools and solutions to

improve the standard of visual

data in the factory in terms of

OEE and waste streams,”

explains Simon Billett, Lean

TPM coach at Wrigley.

“In addition, we believe this

will help us improve our

environmental impact through

increased understanding of

energy usage by asset,” he

continues. “We have an ethos

of empowering our operators

and the easier to see and

understand our data is, the

more we can use it to

encompass their involvement.”

01274 599955

www.cimlogic.co.uk

Entry level mixer gives

baked goods benefits

To meet increased sales

demand, privately owned

bakery company Fulfil has

expanded production and

improved efficiency for its ‘on

the go’ products by installing a

Risco mixer from Multivac UK.

Fulfil had identified the

mixing process as a

bottleneck to its expansion

plans and investigated

different commercial bakery

mixers before choosing the

Risco. It is an entry-level

product that is relatively

compact, easy to use and has

a robust stainless steel

construction.

The Risco RS450 mixer from

Multivac is an entry-level unit

‘On the go' baked snacks from Fulfil are increasing in popularity

“We chose the Risco mixer

as we knew the quality of the

equipment from seeing it in

other bakeries and we also

knew Multivac,” explains

Bryan Fowler, NPD manager

at Fulfil. “This combined with

the functionality, competitive

price, and fast availability for

our trail, made the decision to

purchase an easy one.”

Prior to working with

Multivac, the company had

been using a small mixer that

only had a capacity of 25kgs

which necessitated 72 mixes a

day. With its new entry-level

Risco RS450 mixer, it can now

handle batches up to 300kgs

at a time and are now only

doing eight mixes a day.

Further production efficiencies

have been gained in the

reduction in mix times, as the

mixer delivers time savings of

between 40-70% depending

on the product mix.

Cleaning between product

changeovers has also been

significantly reduced at the

product no longer sticks to the

stainless steel sides or mixer

paddles in the same way it did

in the old mixer.

01793 425800

www.multivac.co.uk

16

MACHINERY UPDATE: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

www.machineryupdate.co.uk

installation news

Upgrade brings benefits

Müller Dairy has upgraded and re-engineered an underperforming line at its Market Drayton site and, in the process, has achieved

a 50% efficiency improvement while also enjoying health and safety benefits for its staff

Müller Dairy is now the UK’s

largest yogurt producer and at

its UK headquarters in Market

Drayton, its current capacity is

2 billion pots a year. The

pressure to increase output,

reduce costs and improve

production flexibility is ongoing

to meet current demand and

develop new opportunities.

As part of this process, the

company recognised that its

manufacturing capability could

be significantly improved

through the upgrading and

re-engineering of an existing

repack line that was overreliant

on manual intervention

and was under-performing.

Müller Dairy commissioned

CKF Systems as its project

partner, with responsibility to

design, install and commission

a fully automated solution,

utilising much of the current

equipment and within the

same floor space. With four

ABB Flexpickers at the heart of

Existing equipment was utilised

the existing system, Müller

project engineer, Martyn

Steadman, asked ABB to

recommend a systems

integrator capable of meeting

a very complex set of

challenges – not least the

height constraints of the

ground floor location. “From a

short-list of four we chose

CKF; they were aligned to our

way of thinking from the start

of the discussion process,”

confirms Steadman. “We were

impressed by their ideas,

customer relationships and the

quality and performance of

their recent projects.

“This was a substantial

investment by Müller Dairy

and therefore demanded an

immediate return,” explains

Steadman. “It required an

innovative and integrated

solution within a confined

space. To maximise output,

the existing configuration had

to be re-engineered to

eliminate bottlenecks, new

motors and software installed

and innovative conveyor

protocols introduced to ensure

accurate product alignment in

readiness for high speed

handling,” he says.

“It was imperative that the

new system would be up and

running as early as possible

and with minimal disruption to

existing production.”

The functional requirement

of the repack system was to

take packed yogurt from a

pallet, produce a multipack,

repack and palletise. The

CKF-designed system has

four infeed legs to enable it to

handle multipacks with a

variety of flavours. Each leg

accumulates stacked trays

which are then de-stacked

prior to a gantry unload system

removing the yogurts from the

The new repacking line is now fully automated and much faster as a result

trays. It then places them onto

a Flexpicker infeed conveyor

which guides each pot to a

required datum.

The empty trays are then

transported down the line

ready for re-use at the packer.

Four Flexpickers then track the

infeed conveyor and the flow

wrapper infeed, selecting the

required number of pots and

placing them into each flight.

Once flow wrapped, the

multipacks are transferred

through 90 degrees and

collated within the packer prior

to being placed back into the

initial trays.

“The challenges of this

project and potential pitfalls

were considerable,” explains

Kevin Staines, sales director at

CKF Systems. “Environmental

conditions impact on

performance and in this

particular situation, working in

a chilled area with a low

constant temperature; we had

additional considerations

including the performance of

the vacuum grippers.”

From contractual agreement

to completion, the investment

was undertaken in less than

eight months with immediate

benefits accruing to the

business.

Now fully automated, the

new repacking line is able to

handle double the numbers

that were being achieved

manually.

“It has been a demanding

yet exciting project,” points out

Steadman. “It meets all of our

investment expectations and

Müller Dairy’s strategic

objective to become the most

competitive and successful

dairy company in the UK and

Ireland.

“In addition, we have

realised some health and

safety benefits and improved

the well-being of our people by

reducing high speed repetitive

processes in confined spaces;

allowing workers to be

redeployed more productively.

The new system is more easily

cleaned, requires less

maintenance and has been

designed for easy use and

access.”

01452 424565

www.ckf.co.uk

www.machineryupdate.co.uk

MACHINERY UPDATE: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

special feature

Drinks sector

gets drenched

Volumes have fallen across

alcoholic and soft drinks

sectors in 2012 as prices

rose and consumers

stopped spending in the

wettest summer recorded

for 100 years. And even the

Jubilee and Olympics did

not get the champagne

corks popping as everyone

thought they would.

Despite this gloom,

drinks manufacturers have

continued to invest in new

equipment, systems and

processes and some

of the latest industry

developments are covered

in the next ten pages.

Integrated labels

Somerset cider-maker Magners

has automated pallet labelling

operations at its Shepton Mallet

factory with two print & apply

machines from Logopak,

installed in minimum time due

to standard Logopak software.

The Logopak 815PF units

replace a manual labelling

operation, reducing labour

costs and ensuring accurate

positioning for adjacent side

labelling. They also scan each

bar code label as it is applied,

automatically reprinting and

re-applying should there be a

failure to read correctly.

Both machines receive label

data from an existing factory

management system via

Logopak’s new Synchro-LXS

software. This holds and

manages labelling data files on

a PC for real-time data flow to

the labeller, independent of the

host computer from which the

data is initially downloaded.

As a result, the labellers are

able to continue operating at

maximum capacity when the

host computer is engaged on

other tasks apart from labelling.

01904 692333

www.logopak.co.uk

drinks

Pallet load stability

is increasing issue

“Pallet load stability in the drinks industry is an

issue that manufacturers should pay closer

attention to,” says Roger Cope, technical

manager at Aetna UK. He believes that

correct wrapping, not just more wrapping, is

key to avoiding losses caused by damage in

transit that can lead to subsequent

supermarket fines.

And general manager at the company Colin

Barker agrees. “Quite rightly, drinks

companies spend lots of time getting the

primary packaging right but then once the

product leaves the production area, equal

focus and resource should be placed on

achieving the most effective wrap,” he says.

“This would result in cost savings in film

and reduced product damage

incurred in transit,

which can be

substantial.”

According to an

industry report that brought

together retailers, brand owners and logistics

specialists in the US, $7.2 billion of avoidable

damage is caused each year across the

States alone, in this area. This is why Aetna

has invested in a new facility in Italy that tests

and monitors pallets in transit on a special

acceleration sled. UK customers can now

therefore have their products tested to ensure

their pallets are as secure as possible while

also using the optimum amount of film.

“You need to make a pallet as stable as you

can with the least amount of film that you

can,” explains Cope. And this is why the

company has developed its so-called Cube

A new facility in Italy tests and monitors pallets in

transit on a special acceleration sled

Cube technology establishes the optimum wrap for a

pallet to achieve a stable load

technology which establishes the optimum

wrap for a pallet to achieve a stable load. “In

the past, just using more film has been the

answer to stability problems but this is not

how the Cube works,” says Cope. “Instead,

Cube technology can put more film where the

stresses are.” For instance, you can use

thicker film at the bottom and the middle

of a load.

The main difference between this new

technology and previous units is that this is

not a reactive system that relies on film

tension from pallet corners, instead it is a

proactive system that already knows how

much film should be used for each pallet load.

It also allows cheaper films and damaged

films to be handled.

And, because Cube technology is not

creating any unnecessary force, it can stretch

the film up to 400% and beyond.

“This technology represents a sizeable

investment in R&D and really does take the

film to the limit,” says Cope. “And importantly,

existing equipment can be retrofitted to

include this technology.”

01234 825050

www.aetna.co.uk

18 MACHINERY UPDATE: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

www.machineryupdate.co.uk

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MACHINERY UPDATE: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

special feature

drinks

Sensing maximum uptime

A project with Sick UK to develop a solution to a level-sensing problem on a bottle filling plant provides a good example of the

value of strategic supplier relationships, says Cott Beverages

Cott Beverages is the world’s largest own

label beverage company and operates a

typically hard-working plant at its Nelson

facility where nearly 300 are employed on

the site the company acquired when it

bought out Macaw soft drinks in 2005.

The challenge to maintain legacy plant

and overcome parts obsolescence has

meant developing effective replacement

strategies. Good working partnerships

with key suppliers can make the

difference between smooth operation and

costly downtime, explains Ian Whitehead,

plant electrical engineer.

“We have a programme of replacing

machinery and equipment over time, as

the capital budget allows,” he says. “We

also need to get the best reliability and

availability from existing plant, so good

spares back-up is essential.

“It’s critical to have suppliers who

understand our processes in detail, so

that technical information and support can

help to keep the whole operation running

smoothly,” he says.

Ensuring maximum uptime is a key

priority on each of the five lines for still

and carbonated drinks at the main

Nelson facility, as well as two aseptic

The Sick sensors have their own LED readout

The filler has three Sick LFP level sensors on the ring-shaped header tank above the filling nozzles

bottling lines housed in a separate plant

on a neighbouring site.

On a typical multi-bottle filler, one litre

and 500ml carbonated soft drinks like

colas are bottled at about 19,000 units

per hour, which allows a 40ms fill-time

per unit. The syrup is mixed with water,

carbonated, and then fed under pressure

to the filling bowl, a ring-shaped header

tank above the filling nozzles.

From here, actuated valves dispense

the beverage into the bottle under gravity,

and it is then capped, labelled and sent

to packing.

The plant’s operations work to

demanding targets, so maximum

availability for every machine is essential.

That means knowing where potential

failures may happen and ensuring

changeover and commissioning of parts

does not impact on the operation during

production runs.

One project involved the installation of

new LFP Inox fluid level probes from Sick

UK which, says the company, has

demonstrated how a more strategic

approach to replacement has delivered a

solution with potentially far-reaching

benefits for the whole plant.

“Controlling the level of liquid in the

filling bowl is critical to the process as it

determines the accuracy of fill and

margins can be squeezed by a run of

poor fill,” explains Whitehead. “The

level-sensing equipment was around

ten years old and faults were becoming

more frequent.

Individual sensor monitoring avoids downtime

“We had reached the point where not

only was the maintenance and

replacement budget becoming too high, it

was affecting operating margins for the

whole plant,” says Whitehead. Cott

decided that it should look for level

sensing equipment which did a better job

altogether, in terms of fault indication and

the ability to compensate for faulty

sensors should a problem occur.

20 MACHINERY UPDATE: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013 www.machineryupdate.co.uk

special feature

“We identified that the newlyintroduced

Sick LFP Inox hygienic level

sensors with IO link offered the

improvements in performance and data

output required,” explains Wayne

Morrison, the engineer responsible for

Cott Nelson within Sick UK’s Commercial

Goods team.

In operation, connection to the three

sensors is made via IO link. “A

single gateway enables connection

of all three sensors to our Profibus

network,” says Whitehead. “This

provides digital access to

diagnostic data in each sensor

allowing us to monitor whether an

individual sensor is deteriorating,

and an alarm can be triggered

before any failure.”

drinks

same sensors on other filling machines to

minimise spares stocks. The LFP Inox is

ideal, because it has a stainless steel

probe with a measuring length of between

300 – 2,000mm which can be cut to

length on site to meet the required

dimensions.

“We have a two-metre long probe which

we can cut to fit each application,” points

out Whitehead. “In addition, the LFP’s

self-teach simplifies set up which means

we can fit the unit, press a button and it

does the rest. The trial runs showed the

company that it can complete a sensor

replacement during the Clean In Place

(CIP) phase between production runs.”

01727 831121

www.sick.co.uk

The HMI control panel facilitates rapid

programming and monitoring

In the event of a fault developing

with one of the sensors, the alarm

and operator instructions on the

filler’s HMI control panel facilitate

the switching out of the faulty

device. An average level of the two

remaining sensors is maintained

until an assessment can be made

during routine maintenance

downtime. “The Sick LFP

microwave sensors also have their

own LED and digital readout, so

we can pick up faults either on the

HMI or on the filler bowl itself,”

says Whitehead.

The project team has completed

a two month run with the Sick LFP

Inox sensors on one filling

machine without any incidents at

all. An accuracy level of +/-1mm

also delivered other operational

benefits, particularly in improving

the efficiency of the PID control of

filling line pressure.

Based on the success of the

trial, the strategy is now to use the

Safety for sensitive

products – aseptic filling with

krones. www.krones.com

www.machineryupdate.co.uk

special feature

drinks

Coders are compatible

Kingsland Wines and Spirits has installed

eight 2200 Series labelling machines

from Markem Imaje as part of a project to

introduce on-line outer pack labelling on

its production lines. The machines are

linked via the Manchester site’s wireless

network to the computer business system

where all the label information is stored

centrally.

The company bottles and packs in

excess of 81 million litres of own label

and own brand products every year and

wanted to introduce online labelling at

speeds of up to 46 packs a minute. It

invited nine prospective coding and

marking suppliers to present print and

apply options that would be fast, accurate

and flexible and provide a robust,

practical solution that would require

minimal training for operatives.

Over 81 million litres of product is bottled

All machines are linked via wireless network

A series of trials confirmed that only

two of the prospective suppliers could

match the speed and budget

requirements of Kingsland, while the

2200 print and apply series from Markem

also provided the accuracy, flexibility and

compatibility required.

Reliability was another key factor as

Nigel Smith, company project manager

for Kingsland explains: “To ensure

production line speeds and overall

efficiency, we required printers that could

be moved easily between production

lines in the event of failure, which

minimised stoppages due to roll changes

and that could be serviced by local

engineers when necessary.

“Using the 2200 Series with its larger

560m label and ink rolls has enabled us

to reduce line stoppages due to roll

changes by 25%,” he says.

“On the fastest production line, two

printers are used which allows an

automatic changeover to be made,

removing the need for operator

intervention, reducing errors and

increasing line efficiency,” he continues.

Eight 2200 Series labelling machines are used

The type of printhead used was

another important consideration for

Kingsland as it had incurred unnecessary

costs in the past due to the frequency of

replacing them. “The longer than average

lifespan and internal configuration of the

2200 Series printhead makes it a cost

effective printer for us,” says Smith.

Maintenance can be carried out quickly

with minimal impact on the production

lines due to the 2200’s modular design,

and it can also be moved to different

lines when required.

0161 333 8555

www.markem-imaje.co.uk

NEW

special feature

drinks

A spirited label application

Atwell Self-Adhesive Labellers has

supplied one of its AL series stepper

driven label heads mounted on an

automatic friction feeder to meet the

exacting needs of Scottish contract

FUTUREPROOFPACKAGINGEQUIPMENT

packaging company QAS Copak.

QAS needed to apply labels to a variety

of flat printed and plain cartons at high

speed, with minimal labour but with

precision. The first job run on the system

Future proof

sustainable packaging equipment

NEW

MADE IN BRITAIN

was labelling a high end spirit bottle

carton with a clear label at speeds up to

100 cartons a minute. The equipment

allowed QAS to meet its customer

deadline with time to spare.

The flexibility of the feeder and

the label head combine to allow a

wide variety of products to be

handled and labelled which suits the

contract packers’ needs perfectly.

“Dealing with Atwell was made

easy as they went to great lengths

to understand our requirements in

full after which they committed to

trials prior to providing the machine,

which has clearly upped our game

in terms of capability, productivity

and response times to our

customers,” explains Derek Page

from QAS Copak. “We are delighted

with this investment which allows us

to grow and enhance our service

provision in a highly competitive

market.”

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The AL label head and friction feeder

Atwell now offers a ‘One Stop

Shop’ facility to customers which

ranges from the supply of self

adhesive and linerless labelling

equipment, plain and printed labels,

in-house design service, service

and spares, in-line coding and

verification systems combined with

the supply of any associated

consumables.

0844 846 4108

www.atwell-labellers.co.uk

www.machineryupdate.co.uk

REVIEW OF THE YEAR

A

PROMOTIONAL SUPPLEMENT

2012

Biggest winery

gets bigger

MU January / February 2013

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