Case Study: Poppies
Greater efficiency, improved flexibility and enhanced quality control are the major benefits of a bespoke packing line created for leading biscuit and pastry manufacturer Poppies International by Ishida Europe’s Belgian agent BRN. Poppies manufactures its delicate sugarglazed puff pastry biscuits in two shapes – Twists and Palmiers.
The IX-GA 4075 is able to spot a wider range of contaminants and can pinpoint the location of any foreign object.
The Ishida multihead weigher is achieving 50 packs per minute on a typical 125g tray.
Accuracy is to within 0.5g and overall the weigher is delivering an efficiency level in excess of 95%.
Poppies required greater efficiency, improved flexibility and enhanced quality control from their new packing line.
The new BRN/Ishida system enables these changeovers to be carried out in just 15 minutes thanks to two important factors. The linear configuration of the Ishida weigher is ideal for fragile biscuits and it allows two distribution systems to sit comfortably beneath the weigher. A special BRN-designed tray denester feeds the trays to two dipping funnels that place the biscuits into the trays. These can be changed for an alternative filling system that places the biscuits into individual compartments on a conveyor which takes them to a bagmaker.
Equally important, the three Ishida machines (multihead weigher, X-ray inspection system and checkweigher) are all controlled by a single Control Unit, meaning that the settings for every pack format on each machine can be easily called up by the touch of a single button on the panel. The installation of the Ishida IX-GA X-ray system has also delivered an important enhancement to Poppies’ quality control, as production manager Geert Vandoorne explains:
“Before the X-ray, the biscuits would pass through a metal detector immediately after coming out of the oven. Nevertheless, the packing operation involves a number of additional pieces of equipment, so it was more appropriate for the metal detector to be placed further down the line. This however created another problem as some of the trays feature aluminium foil seals, while the bags are tied with a metal clip, and these factors would prevent the metal detector from operating properly”. By comparison Ishida’s X-ray system is able to detect unwanted objects through metallised film, and its advanced technology can also mask the metal clip on the bags without reducing the detection performance of foreign bodies. Missing or additional clips are also identified.
In addition, the IX-GA 4075 is able to spot a wider range of contaminants and can pinpoint the location of any foreign object despite the fact that the biscuits are quite densely packed in the bags and trays.
*Please note the above video is used for demonstration purposes and not the actual product within this case study.
The installation of the Ishida DACS checkweigher has also helped to improve overall efficiencies. “Previously operators simply checked the fill level of the trays or bags by sight to assess if the correct amount was in each pack,” explains Geert, “but this led to excessive giveaway on occasions. Now we can be confident that every pack is close to its target weight”.
The new line at Poppies incorporates the company’s existing bagmaker, flow wrapper and boxing machine with BRN supplying the three new Ishida machines along with transfer conveyors and elevators. “The X-ray and checkweigher have delivered the same high standards of accuracy and reliability and with BRN’s help with the design of the line, we now have an extremely flexible and efficient packing operation that ensures the high quality of our products and further enhances our reputation”.
