Packaging system protects palletised organic products

Organic food manufacturing company Davert GmbH installed the BEUMER stretch hood to protect its products from dust and pests during storage and to ensure they are safely transported to drug and health food stores.

Based in Ascheberg in Germany, Davert specialises in organic foods — including rice, legumes and cereal products like sugar, dried fruit, nuts, oilseeds and sprouting seeds — and stands for the continuous further development of processing methods and careful monitoring of these products, from cultivation to packaging. The BEUMER stretch hood A covers the mixed pallets of bags, cartons and buckets with a highly elastic stretch film, protecting them against external influences and keeping them secured during transport, even through sudden braking.

Davert acts as a consultant for its partners when it comes to product selection and cultivation, and coordinates infrastructure projects. It follows a multichannel strategy: the merchandise is sold via its own online shop and in selected drugstores and health food retailers.

Erwin Tenbrink, Technical Director at Davert, said: “We are ensuring the highest degree of cleanliness to meet our strict quality standards.”

Before being shipped out, the products have undergone special quality controls. The company’s 150 employees examine the incoming raw products and set up the required cleaning steps. In one mill, for example, air flow from the aspiration channel removes stalk remnants, husks and dust from the cereal. Different-sized grains are separated using screens. Weed seeds and light particles like defective grains are also weeded out by the system; an optoelectronic sorter removes the foreign particles.

“Another preventive measure is the pressure treatment that we use to prevent any pest infestation from the start,” explained Tenbrink. “The sudden pressure release kills off any pests like bugs, moths or mites and their larvae and eggs, without compromising the quality of the product in any way.”

In compliance with the quality assurance process, employees pack the merchandise in a variety of ways, depending on the product: rice, flour, linseed and grains are packed into bags, larger storage quantities into big bags. Packaged legumes, nuts, dried fruit and muesli are filled into boxes, and honey into buckets. Depending on the store order, the team stacks the various unit loads onto mixed pallets which are stored in its high-rack warehouse. The units also have to be loaded safely onto the back of the trucks and reach the distributor without any damage.

A forklift truck places the palletised merchandise on a roller conveyor, on which they are transported to the packaging system.

Davert was looking for a solution that could meet all these requirements, ensuring fast and reliable operation, high levels of availability, easy maintenance and a small footprint. BEUMER Group delivered the BEUMER stretch hood A high-capacity packaging system.

“The machine is very easy and safe to operate,” said Volker Feldmeyer, Sales Engineer at BEUMER Group. “In order to make work easier for the maintenance personnel, which also means higher levels of availability, the machine does not require any platform.”

Maintenance work, such as changing the blades or the sealing bars, is handled at floor level. The operator simply opens a drawer, providing free access. Additional benefits include the compact design and the resulting low height and small footprint.

A film transport system, which is particularly gentle on the material, introduces the previously cut and sealed film hood into the system. On its way to the crimping and stretching unit, the sealing seam on the film hood cools down so that it can be crimped without losing time. Energy-consuming cooling units and delayed cooling times become obsolete, meaning the pallets can be packed in a shorter cycle time. Economical engines and a lower demand in compressed air optimise the energy balance.

The pallets are packaged in short cycle times. The machine covers the products with a highly elastic stretch hood.

In order to save resources and produce minimum waste, Davert opted for this type of film wrapping. The palletised goods are also clearly visible through the smooth surface of the transparent, highly flexible film. The wrapping protects the merchandise against atmospheric influences and humidity, increases safety during transport and ensures an aesthetic appearance on the shop floors.

At Davert, the BEUMER stretch hood A packages the pallets for high-bay storage systems: the pallet base remains unwrapped, so that the forks of the forklift truck won’t damage the film. This prevents any remaining film from interfering during the contour check before the pallet is stored in the high-rack system.

The BEUMER Group introduced the human machine interface (HMI), an operator panel with an optimised user interface and graphical navigation which offers a more ergonomic workflow to the user. This easily understandable and intuitive interaction concept helps to define efficient working sequences.

“The soft-touch panel uses pictograms to guide the user through the menu of the Siemens SIMATIC S7 machine control,” explained Feldmeyer. “The panel also gives the operator access to all required training programs and content.”

Tenbrink noted the technical cooperation during the planning and installation of the system, and the reliable customer support for maintenance and service.

“If necessary, we send our service personnel to the plant to check the system and perform any required adjustments,” Feldmeyer said. “This way we can ensure high levels of availability at any time.”

Top image: The merchandise remains clearly visible through the smooth film surface. It protects against atmospheric influences and humidity, and ensures an aesthetic appearance on the shop floors. Image credits: BEUMER Group GmbH & Co. KG.