Biscuit packaging made easier

Gourmet biscuits are in increasing demand in various sectors of the consumer market, from airlines to health food shops to the regular supermarket outlets. With this increase comes the requirement to handle the biscuits in the most efficient manner, avoiding damage and reducing the manual handling in meeting with attractive packaging parameters.

The prerequisites in processing in the final stages before final packaging is to channel the biscuits into separate lanes, remove broken pieces and screen out small particles. Once aligned, the biscuits must be stacked vertically to permit a block at a time to be picked up, either manually or by robotic means, before placing them in the packaging container. In some cases the biscuits may need to the presented one at a time for individual wrapping. No matter what the final requirement, one company is specialising in this aspect of the production line.

Having recently delivered their fourteenth system to one of Australia’s leading gourmet biscuit manufacturers, Enmin Vibratory Equipment is fulfilling a demand that provides our local biscuit and biscuit manufacturers with a custom-engineered facility that satisfies their particular product range. The issue with importing a stand-alone sector or integrating into an overall system has been well demonstrated as fraught with danger. Enmin Vibratory Equipment has already been responsible for the re-engineering of a number of systems.

With computer modelling, Enmin Vibratory Equipment engineers can demonstrate the effectiveness of a system in handling these products with minimum damage. Their test facility will, in addition to modelling, prove the process before commencing manufacturing.

Each of the systems both meets specific customer needs and has the built-in requirements of HACCP. Simple items, such as attention to electrical layouts with demountable connections in enclosed designs, provide for simple cleaning and maintenance. All fabrications are in stainless steel and presented in a variety of finishes.

The most recent system involved a receivable station where biscuits were presented from an elevating conveyor and using an adjustable chute guided onto the initial screening machine that, through a series of cleverly arranged gates, ensures broken pieces are removed. A central collection point is used for the reject pieces. Product is then delivered to a secondary screening unit with multiple changes and any remaining crumbs are removed and again collected into a common facility. Product is then channelled into four lanes where the biscuits are aligned and spaced without any overlapping, presenting a definitive stream of product. From here the biscuits travel to a special plastic contoured multiple tracking section and, using a combination of accelerating speeds, this causes the biscuits to stand vertically. The final stage is the removal of the biscuit stacks for packaging.

The operation of each system provides a balanced product flow of volume of product that is introduced into the system equalling that which is delivered, avoiding any accumulation. Integrating with upstream equipment or automatic packaging is readily achieved through the advanced electronic controls.