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| | Weighing and packaging of ready meals is a complex process not least because you need to be able to dose and position various mixes of products on different ready meal plates. This case deals with one of the largest ready meal producers in Europe, who in 2005 for the fifth time invested in a complete automatic weighing and packaging system from BILWINCO.
Cost-efficient packaging – high product quality
The new BILWINCO weighing and packaging line was purchased for the launch of a new ready meal product line to be sold to retailers such as supermarkets and petrol stations. The product mixes includes chicken and turkey pieces, chorizo slices and bacon cubes, couscous and a pea and carrot mix – all of which are IQF.
Manual dosing and positioning would be too labour intensive and cause too high levels of give-away on the individual portions. BILWINCO proposed an automated solution, which allowed precise dosing and positioning of mix products in trays or plates resulting in a first-rate visual presentation of the products – radiating high quality.
Versatile packaging with frequent change-overs
The main features of the new ready meal system are: Two swing loaders for emptying of Eurobins, two feeding vibrators, and a double Z-conveyor for transporting the products to a multihead weigher, type BW128W. The weigher doses the portions into a filling and distribution tool, which ensures that the portions are positioned correctly on the oval plates.
Five different filling options
The new system is designed so that filling can be carried out in five different ways:
1. One product placed on the front or the back half of the plate
2. One product spread onto the whole plate
3. Two products mixed together and spread onto the whole plate
4. Two products placed next to each other on the plate
5. Two products in a layer presentation on the whole plate
Quick and easy change-over
During a working day, many change-overs take place on the ready-meal line. Change-over from one filling method to another is effected within a few minutes. A few mechanical adjustments and a few clicks on the control panel – that’s how quick and easy it is.
Highly efficient and trouble-free
The new system represented the fifth in a row to the same producer, and the previous experiences were highly positive: The operating costs of all systems had been very low – and the two companies had co-operated very well in connection with service. Furthermore, BILWINCO was been able to deliver a filling tool solution to produce the necessary product combinations and to position the products correctly on the plates. BILWINCO also supplied a high-speed multihead weigher capable of weighing 60-65 plates per minute.
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