Gently does it for automated biscuit packaging

Established in 1882, Macedonia-based Evropa employs over 500 people to produce more than 10,000 tonnes per year of chocolate products such as biscuits, wafers and candies.

Evropa was seeking an automated solution for the packing of its wafer and biscuit brands, which would reduce the high costs, slow speeds and excessive giveaway of the existing manual operation while avoiding chipping or breakage of the fragile products.

The process of hand-weighing and sealing in bags had been extremely labour intensive, involving 30 personnel to pack around 27 bags per minute. With the installation of the Ishida CCW-RS Gentle Slope multihead weigher, linked to an Ilapak bag maker, the company is achieving 30 bags per minute with just five people. Giveaway has been reduced from 5% to 0.7%, resulting in payback on the machine being achieved within one and a half years. The improvement in pack quality has also enabled Evropa to export its products throughout the EU.

The Ishida Gentle Slope design has a number of characteristics suitable for the delicate task of packing fragile food products. Key features are specially designed hoppers and a ring shutter, which is placed between the weigh hoppers and the timing hopper.

The reduced angles of the hoppers enable the products to slide rather than fall through the weigher into the bag maker. Once the combination of weighed product leaves the weigh hoppers, it reaches the ring shutter, which is coated in an absorbent material. The ring shutter holds the product before discharging it into the timing hopper, which then places it into the bag maker. By slowing down the speed of each weighment as it passes through the weigher, breakages are significantly reduced.

The Ishida weigher, available in Australia from Heat and Control, can handle different pack weights of 125, 150 and 200 g, with changeovers taking just 10 min.

Image caption: Evropa wafer biscuits on the Ishida Gentle Slope weigher.