Product category:
Food and drink manufacturing: processing equipment
News Release from: Marco | Subject: Turnkey process weighing and traceability system
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 09 August 2004
Turnkey solution ensures efficient food
production
A turnkey process weighing and traceability system for a prominent food manufacturer provides the ability to react to demand and product traceability to meet schedules.
Marco Weighing Systems have installed a turnkey process weighing and traceability system for Vale of Evesham based Kanes Foods Limited The comprehensive system is at the heart of Kanes' new dedicated production line for preparing pre-packed coleslaws, fresh pasta salad and sauces for the one of the major multiples
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 24 Jun 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Our appetite for ready prepared snack salads has grown dramatically over the past five years and, as customers, we have become more discerning when it comes to the available choice and variety of products on offer.
In the race to tempt our palate, supermarkets are having to become more innovative and responsive, thereby in turn placing increasing demands on their suppliers.
Privately owned Kanes have built an enviable reputation for their innovative chilled salad products and this has seen the company grow rapidly over the past 10 years.
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Manufacturing execution system for Unilever
Marco has been awarded a contract to supply Unilever UK Ice Cream with its all-encompassing TRAC-IT MES manufacturing execution system.
Factory floor efficiency system for rapid benefits
A rapid return on investment is just one of the benefits being enjoyed by Hall Hunter Partnership (HHP) following the installation of a Marco Trac-it MES factory floor efficiency system.
Soft fruit weighing and handling
Marco has been endorsed by the success of its packing and handling solution for leading soft fruit experts Winterwood Farms.
Their reputation in this sector has come from building strong working partnerships with both suppliers and leading retail outlets.
Their open management policy stimulates and nurtures fresh ideas: their simple yet effective approach promotes a philosophy of never being satisfied or standing still; always looking for something different and imaginative.
Their mouth-watering choice of coleslaws includes prawn, cheese and fruit as well as the more traditional recipes.
In the same area Kanes also produce trayed pasta salads, tubs of salad for salad bars and over 50 different sauces.
For companies like Kanes, keeping up with the rapid fluctuations in demand can be a daunting task.
This can be affected by factors as diverse as trends in local preferences around the UK, weather patterns, holidays and even major sporting events.
Their ability to react to demand is pivotal to success and product traceability plays a vital role in meeting schedules.
Producing several million trays of speciality coleslaws a year requires not only a highly automated process but also clear real-time visibility of the process itself, together with availability and location data on the large number of ingredients.
Marco's association with Kanes started several years ago with the supply of two Datamaster recipe control workstations for use in the spice room as part of the sauce recipe system.
When they wanted to install the new coleslaw line they turned to Marco to design a fully integrated system that would give them the control and flexibility to allow them to maintain their leading edge in this fast moving consumer market.
The solution at Kanes is based around Marco's inspirational E4 TRAC-IT software suite.
Working in conjunction with the central Mitsubishi FX series PLC and E900 MMI, TRAC-IT offers a unique blend of control, visibility and traceability, which in turn ensures optimum production flexibility and efficiency.
The system has no fewer than 33 weighing points, including 15 Datamaster workstations, bulk and intermediate storage vessels and mixing vessels.
Controlling mayonnaise production is a critical part of the overall process and over 20 tonnes are mixed and used each day.
There are three different blends and each batch is freshly mixed from the five main ingredients in two individual 1000kg capacity mixing vessels.
The mixing vessels are mounted on load cells and use a combination of weight data and torque data from the mixer motor to produce the 'perfect mix'.
Eleven 2000kg capacity holding tanks act as a short term buffer supply for the main production line.
The main coleslaw mixing hopper is mounted on three load cells.
The required weights of diced cabbage, carrot and onion, together with the other ingredients, are automatically fed by conveyor into the hopper before the mayonnaise is pumped in and the recipe mixed.
The dynamic weight trend is fully recorded and any anomalous weight changes are instantly detected and flagged up.
Collectively, via a CAT5 LAN system, the weighing points provide crucial weight and product data, starting with the bulk storage tanks holding the mayonnaise raw materials, through to the finished packaged product.
This data allows management to monitor and track the ingredients throughout the process, whilst having the ability to produce management information on demand, from any key performance indicator (KPI) in the factory.
The TRAC-IT system is based around unique trace codes, which are assigned and affixed to products in the form of bar coded labels or tags.
A specific code may refer to individual containers or bottles, trays of produce or individual items.
Every time product moves to a different location, the label is read via a RF bar code reader and the database updated.
If the product changes through processes such as slicing, dicing, shredding or cooking, a new trace code is assigned to it, which also carries details of the original trace code.
If more than one ingredient is mixed together, the resulting trace code for the mixture carries previous details of the trace codes for all the ingredients.
With the advent of the new style EU Food Safety Directive (EC 178/2002) in January 2005, the importance of effective traceability is being elevated to new levels.
Marco broadly welcome such legislation, but they recognise that there are a number of critical factors in ensuring safe and efficient food production, and putting the elements of the directive into practice requires long term commitment from suppliers and users alike.
As Marco's Technical Director Murray Hilborne explains: "Although traceability is very important, we see it as just one part in of the overall manufacturing process.
It should not be a necessary evil, put in place to satisfy legislation.
Moreover it is a vital and valuable tool, which can bring tangible benefits to the manufacturing process.
Our experience shows that many companies have little information on what actually happens in real time throughout their process and this adversely affects their manufacturing capabilities.
Simply put, TRAC-IT fills that void by acting as the 'middleware' link between ERP/MRP systems and the factory floor." Production Manager Richard Leathers is very upbeat about the system: "I continue to be amazed and impressed with the level of visibility I have of the overall process.
Real time data is available instantaneously and I can tell at a glance what is happening on the shop floor.
I can locate any ingredient in the factory at any time, complete with all current date code information.
Having the ability to control and track products throughout the process is invaluable for meeting both current schedules and planning future requirements.
Data from the storage silos are also at hand, ensuring we never run out of vital ingredients.
Our production process is a blend of high level automation and hand made bespoke recipe mixing.
In the past, line supervisors kept their own little black book with cryptic notes pertaining to the idiosyncrasies of particular recipes.
We were concerned initially that there might have been some reticence about using the new Marco system but everyone has signed up to it wholeheartedly.
It makes their jobs easier and the black books have long been discarded.
When I go onto the shop floor each morning and ask "How are things going?" the light-hearted reply is always: 'Well, you already know Richard don't you!" Marco have taken full responsibility for the weighing and control part of the project and this has ensured we have seamless integration throughout.
" Like Kanes, Marco are never satisfied and the system is constantly being assessed and, where appropriate, improved, using feed back from the people who use it day in and day out.
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