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Send to KindleContract packager blends vf/f/s systems
The unique part of the system is that the separate infeeds [bucket elevators] deliver product to the 918s says Thornton. That means there are four separate products weighed for each 918. So if were filling a 16-ounce package and want four different products in each bag we might fill four ounces of broccoli and four ounces of cauliflower from one 918 and four ounces of carrots and four ounces of lima beans from the other 918.
When eight or nine products are required for a single bag theyre preblended so that two vegetables are fed from each bucket elevator infeed into each 918s five-lane/four-lane configuration.
The computerized system times product to release from the top buckets to the second row where product is weighed. Product is released downward into the third and fourth buckets in each lane. These buckets are actually positioned in a front-and-back configuration. The computerized Triangle Selectech control system scans all chambers on both scales to provide numerous weighing combinations and precise weighment accuracy.
Product is filled into bags formed from rollstock on the Advantage vf/f/s machine. Film is formed around a collar and a heat-seal is made on the back and bottom. Then product is filled followed by heat-sealing the top of the bag while simultaneously forming the bottom seal for the next fill. Finally the filled bag is cut from the web.
Retail and foodservice
Thornton explains that his company buys from a variety of film suppliers. We run both printed and nonprinted films for different customers. Thicknesses range from two to six mils but theyre usually 2 ?-mil low-density polyethylene.
The filled pack is discharged onto a takeaway conveyor for case packing palletization and stretch wrapping all done manually. Pallets are stored in the Central Cold Storage warehouse prior to distribution by a common carrier throughout the U.S. Thornton reports that NCPs customer base is split 50-50 between retail and foodservice customers. NCP does not sell any products under its own brand name.
Quick payback
Thornton says the systems accuracy is superior to previous filling systems used by NCP With the older volumetric blending systems we used it would be kind of hit or miss if the exact amount of each product went into the bag. For example he says if you wanted five percent of the mix to be red peppers you might get less than that in one bag more in another. With this system the consumer always gets five percent of red peppers. We get consistent weights for each product so that the consumer gets exactly what he or she is buying. And we can better control our costs that way.
Cost control is a key factor in determining NCPs payback for the equipment. Thornton explains We expect payback on this equipment in less than two years. Much of that payback is expected to come from reduced product giveaway.
Were experiencing less giveaway because of the equipment he states. Were talking about 40 million pounds of product that runs on this equipment and we save a little better than one percent of that in giveaway. With this product costing about 75 cents a pound [the equipment will] save us at least $300 a year.
Besides the advantages of speed and reduced product giveway the Triangle systems are expected to help NCP enter into a promising new product market. To date NCP has used the new equipment solely for IQF vegetables but thats likely to change.
The stir-fry business and home-meal replacement market is growing so rapidly Thornton explains. There are manufacturers adding meats with vegetables and thats really what the equipment was built to handle. Were working on developing contracts right now to pack frozen meat and vegetable mixes for these markets and the Triangle equipment we now have in place is able to portion out the meats and vegetables in the right percentages. So far he reports the equipment is working better than I hoped it would.
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