Top French charcoal producer switches to Ishida to boost weighing performance

19/07/2016

One of France’s largest producers of charcoal, Carbo France, has installed two Ishida multihead weighers in special dust protection cabinets to pack its major charcoal output. Replacing weighers which could not deliver the essential reliability and accuracy demanded, the increased yield from Ishida weighers means Carbo France expects rapid payback.

Charcoal production is a year-round process requiring high stock levels to be maintained together with a rapid and reliable production process. For this Carbo France required an innovative weighing solution partner who could understand its specific needs, develop a solution and then take ownership of the installation, optimisation and essential ongoing maintenance. Ishida was chosen for this task, resulting in the installation of the 14-head weighers with 7-litre hoppers.

Charcoal is packed into bags of 4, 6, 8 and 10kg. Even with speeds limited by packaging machines downstream of the Ishida weighers, this challenging process runs at 14 bags per minute for the largest packs of charcoal.

With the new Ishida system, production statistics are available immediately and show very encouraging results. On a 6kg pack, for example, the mean weight is 6011g. According to Manager Nadège Simon, this represents a reduction in overfill of between 2.5 and 3% compared with the previous system.

For this heavy application, she compares the new weighers to equipment used by Swiss watchmakers in respect of their quality, accuracy and reliability.

Nadège Simon also finds the absence of dirt inside the weighers, when they are opened up for routine maintenance, remarkable. Given the very dusty nature of the product, each of the weighers is equipped with an outer casing and a pressurisation system to control the dust generated during packing. Protected to IP66 rating, the Ishida weighers are able to work reliably and accurately in these conditions.