ISSUE N. 54 June 2015
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BRAND PROTECTION WITH CLEAN PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENT The importance of a clean, hygienic production environment increases considerably when moving from dry to wet, or semi-wet food processing. Failure to meet these standards, can result in extreme measures such as a product recall or even worse consumer illness, which would have a major impact on both brand and bottom line. A clean, hygienic production line has a major impact on both product quality and shelf life. Food processors rely on high hygienic standards in their processes in order to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria in their products, as consumer demands for longer shelf life and more natural products increase the potential for microbial contamination in food products if the high hygienic standards are not maintained. Much effort is required to minimize the risk of recalls and serious damage to their brand, image and bottom line. Organizations such as 3A and EHEDG, provide machine builders and integrators with clear guidelines on design and installation, which comply with the food safety standards, and accordingly minimize the risks related to contamination. For food processing in Europe, 65% of operational time is spent on actual production. The remaining 35% is used for unplanned stops, micro stops, breakdowns, changeovers, cleaning, inspection and general machine maintenance.
With a cutting-edge machine design in combination with a complete line approach, we can significantly improve the situation, with a direct impact seen in the bottom line. A simplified, hygienic design, on all levels, increases ease-of-cleaning and reduces downtime and overall costs, which, accordingly, has a positive impact on the bottom line. A crevice-free design with small contact surfaces between product parts, no open threads, no sharp corners and no flat horizontal surfaces eliminates most of the areas that are difficult to clean. This also makes the cleaning result repeatable and consistent. Another aspect of the cleaning process is the ability to actually verify cleaning results. Operators must be able to reach all areas of the system, both for cleaning and inspection. Last but not least, when designing the line and its operation, focus must be on the operators. You simply have to make it easy for them to do their job. Improving the working environment by lowering noise level, eliminating heavy lifts, and removing sharp edges and pinch points make a big difference to them as they go about performing their daily tasks. By simplifying cleaning and maintenance tasks, the working conditions and overall hygienic standards are significantly improved.
SAFE FOR FOOD HANDLING – WLXH FlexLink has designed, built and verified solutions to support good hygienic practices and ease of cleaning. We are now launching the hygienic conveyor system WLXH, providing even more added value to the food and dairy industries. Danny Parsons, Product Manager Stainless Steel assortment, tells the details of the new platform. Q: What kind of production can FlexLink support with the current platform (WLX) and what will it be able to support with the next generation? Our solutions are already used within the food and dairy industries, but primarily with closed packaging. Bakery is another industry with high demands on cleanliness and where the standard WLX has been beneficial thanks to its open, easy to clean design. With the new hygienic platform (WLXH) we’ll beable to take on open product packaging or products onto the belt in wet and semi-wet processing. We move upstream in the production line and at the same time open up new segments like cold cuts, ready meals and even handling of saline solutions.
Q: Could you tell us more about the new hygienic version of WLX? We want to offer customers a full range of conveyor solutions for food production, which is where WLXH comes in. Feedback on the standard version of WLX is very strong and the new generation hygienic conveyor system covers production processes from basic splash zone (where the system is exposed to e.g. occasional spillage) to processing with direct food contact. The new conveyor platform meets the highest hygienic standards required in food production. The new design has all internal connections welded instead of bolted, which simplifies cleaning and validation. Still, the system design is fully modular, allowing operators to easily remove or open up the conveyor for quick cleaning. This also simplifies mechanical maintenance. We have also introduced drum motors which are easier to keep clean and have less hard to wash and inspect areas. The drum motor also reduces required floors space as the motor is inside the drive unit. Q: How do you actually verify that you’re meeting these hygienic standards? We obtain third-party validation to ensure that our design meets the hygienic requirements, which is something you won’t find with all other competitors. It involves modern forensic techniques, with, for example, repeated soiling and washing over a period of time, sampling, and methods to detect areas of contamination. This thorough testing program verifies the cleanliness of our system.
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Q: What other design aspect allows customers to reap benefits? One key consideration in our design has been to minimize equipment drying time, since dangerous food-borne pathogens tend to flourish in a cool, damp environment. Another important aspect involves verification of the onsite cleaning process. By separating all surfaces, keeping modularity high and giving the operator tools for lifting the chain during cleaning and maintenance, we assure good visual inspection and ease in reaching all areas. The new WLXH conveyor will be released during autumn 2015.
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# 54 June 2015
FLEXLINK NEWSLETTER
AUTOMATED PRODUCTION FLOW IN DAIRY PRODUCTION After 4 years of high continuous growth, one of the most important Polish dairy companies had reached a crossroads: it either needed to invest in production and delivery capacity or start losing market share. CHALLENGE To increase the production capacity within a limited floor space. Three production lines had to be connected and balanced, ending up at one palletizing cell. SOLUTION An automated production flow solution based on a stainless steel conveyor system and high-performance, centralized palletizing cell. The conveyor system picks up three different product trays simultaneously, balances the flow and transports them to the palletizing cell. The cell operates at a speed of 80 trays per minute and handles both empty and full pallets, labelling and wrapping. BENEFITS Increased production capacity and improved competitive advantage by still being able to deliver on time and capture new clients. The system installed is robust, as well as easy to clean, modify and maintain. It offered the lowest total cost of ownership.
A capacity investment The constantly increasing demand of the company’s famous dairy products resulted in the need to not only invest in new modern high-efficient packing machines but also in a fully automated systems of transportation and palletizing. The change of the production line layout required a detailed analysis of the processes and suppliers were also evaluated for their technological knowledge and industry experience. FlexLink Poland was entrusted with the task of designing and delivering the conveyor system, including a the centralized turnkey palletizing cell with labelling and wrapping. A product flow challenge FlexLink had to design a system capable of handling and balancing three production lines at different speeds: the Cream line, Kephir line and Quark line. The limited floor space and requirement on an easily cleanable solution made it even more challenging. The last part of the system, the robot cell, not only had to operate at 80 trays per minute but also handle empty and full pallets, wrapping and labeling. All of this was required in a very limited floor space where you normally would use several palletizing cells to reach the capacity targets.
An automated production flow solution The solution was an automated production flow system based on the stainless steel conveyor, X85X and high-performance, centralized palletizing cell. The conveyor system picked up the three different product trays simultaneously, balanced the flow and transported them to the palletizing cell. The cell operates at a speed of 38 pallets per hour and and it handles both empty and full pallets, labelling and wrapping. The turnkey solution installed by FlexLink allowed the customer to increase production capacity and improve its competitive advantage by still being able to delivery on time and capture new clients.
NEW CHAIN CLEANING UNIT
NEW CHAIN WIDTHS FOR WLX
FlexLink launches a new chain cleaning unit designed for production processes.
The modular wide belt conveyor in stainless steel, WLX, is now available in three new widths: 150, 175 and 225 mm.
The unit is designed to run continuously in production lines where product spillage or dust from the process, products or equipment are an issue and the washing process must maintain in a dry environment.
The three new widths complement the inital three conveyors launched in 2014. They are fully compatible with the existing add-ons: chain lifter, belt tension and metal detection unit.
# 54 June 2015
FLEXLINK NEWSLETTER
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FROM CUSTOMER CHALLENGE TO NEW STANDARD SOLUTION FlexLink collaborated with its sister company, R.A. Jones, to design a new bottle-handling solution using vacuum technology to ensure bottle stability at the very highest rates of production. This resulted in the vacuum conveyor – a new standardized solution from FlexLink.
In 2014, R.A Jones contacted FlexLink for assistance in designing a new bottle handling line. The customer’s production rate had increased to a point where normal handling methods could no longer guarantee bottle stability. The challenge for FlexLink was how to handle empty 180 ml PET and HPDE bottles at the rate of 1000 bottles per minute, without having falling bottles causing line stoppages and efficiency losses. R.A. Jones and FlexLink’s Product Development department created a bespoken solution for the end user, utilizing 90% of FlexLink’s standard equipment to assure a robust, flexible and fully modular solution. Stabilizing the bottles The use of suction to stabilize bottles prevents them from bouncing back when joining a queue. The challenge was getting the power of the suction right and applying it at the right points across the conveyor section, i.e. around bends and transfer points. Rigorous tests at FlexLink’s R&D facility ensured the customer’s requirements were met, delivering
line reliability, comfortably handling speeds of up to 1,000 bottles per minute, while maintaining product stability on the line. “This is the first time FlexLink has been able to offer this type of product to its customers basing it on our standard components. It has now been further developed to ensure an efficient handling of an an even wider scope of products. It will be offered to the market as a standard conveyor solution”, says Product Manager, Danny Parsons. Tony Price, Director of UK Operations for R.A Jones, says “I have been impressed with the speed that FlexLink has responded and with the way both companies have shared ideas and experiences to finalize this and meet very tight deadlines. We secured a significant order combining equipment and line control systems from R.A Jones with vacuum conveyors from FlexLink, delivering the necessary overall line efficiencies and bottle stability.” The new vacuum conveyor from FlexLink will be released during summer 2015. For further information visit www.flexlink.com
TOOLS FOR EASIER ENGINEERING The correct application of automated production flow systems has a large impact on production efficiency and throughput. FlexLink’s Design Tool makes life easier for engineers, from the design of the layout to online ordering. Design Tool The Design Tool introduces a completely new work method, making it much easier to design a single conveyor or even a complete line. Easy drag-and-drop functionality, where each individual component has its own intelligence, eliminates the risk of design errors. This significantly reduces the time required to design the line. In addition, the design tool informs about accessories and recommended safety parts. Key features of Design Tool • FlexLink library with components and modules. • Generic library with machines, robots and operators etc. • Advanced production flow simulation. • Export to 3D PDF, including animations. • Fully compatible with other FlexLink tools e.g. simply export the bill of material to FlexLink’s Online Store.
Calculation Tool Chain tension calculations confirm that the chosen conveyor system does not exceed its technical limits. The tool is easy to use and covers the drive unit capacities and tension limits of all conveyor systems from FlexLink. Key features of Calculation Tool • One window for the entire work process, intuitive and easy to use. • Import layout from other FlexLink tools, e.g. the Design Tool. • 3D graphical preview per conveyor. • Support for all FlexLink platforms. • Online automatic software updates AutoCAD plug-in and native CAD components FlexLink has developed a special plug-in (FlexCad) for AutoCAD which allows you to easily drag-and-drop all components when designing your system in AutoCAD. You can calculate both chain and side rail, then export BoM to FlexLink Online Store. If you don’t use AutoCAD you can download native FlexLink CAD files for nearly all of our component offering.
Order the models in any CAD file format required and then receive them by e-mail or direct download. Support and download To offer you the best possible support, articles and how-to videos are available in the Knowledge Base. It is a great supplement to the standard user documentation found in each application. All engineering tools can be downloaded by logging in to My FlexLink.
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# 54 June 2015
FLEXLINK NEWSLETTER
MATTIAS BYSTRÖM, NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR Q: Tell us a little about your business background? My background is in the commercial side of technology and industrial products. I have founded a couple of start-ups been part of a large multinational company (Danaher) with global management roles within the field of automation space and most recently, I was responsible for the European business of Mobile Climate Control, a Ratos owned company specializing in customized climate systems for commercial vehicles. Q: What are your impressions of FlexLink so far? Being from Gothenburg and working in automation, FlexLink was well known to me before joining. After 10 days on the job, my positive impressions have only been reinforced. Q: What benefits do you associate with being part of a large industrial Group as Coesia? As part of Coesia, there is a long term perspective that will enable us to drive innovation and customer value in a way not possible if we were operating stand-alone. FlexLink has also become part of a family with complementing products and technologies, allowing us to combine our individual strengths to create unique, best in class solutions within a growing number of industry verticals.
Q: What similarities or differences to you see between FlexLink and other companies where you worked? During most of my eight years at Danaher, I worked in automation with Automated Guided Vehicles, servo motors and power electronics. There are many similarities between these businesses and what FlexLink is doing. The main difference, and strength of FlexLink, is the global presence and strong applications team. Q: Have you identified any emerging technologies that could impact FlexLink in the near future? If so, which ones? Flexible factory automation is a trend that can provide us with significant growth. Our customers demand higher efficiency and quality. The challenges of high labor costs and complex products creates substantial opportunities for us. But we need to be humble and really understand what our customers need. Increased use of mechatronics and software in our solutions will be key, as will an improved service offering. Q: What type of innovation do you want to see in FlexLink? After such a short time on the job, it would be presumptuous of me to try to point to specifics. But what I can say is that innovation is key to our success, so this is an area I will be placing a lot of emphasis.
Q: What are your expectations on the economic climate in the near future? Do you think it will improve? Good question! Your guess is as good run the business. We will need to seas mine. The precarious state of many lectively invest while at the same time markets and the economy in general keeping tight controls on our costs. requires us to be very careful how we Q: What will be the main focus areas for FlexLink over the next three years? What are the main challenges? I will initiate work to update our dialogue. Being close to the market strategic plan in the coming weeks and making sure our customers are to identify this. Generally speaksatisfied is essential for a sustainable ing I would say innovation, cuscompany. This is one of the reasons tomer satisfaction and growth. why we have opened up three new offices lately: Turkey, South Korea and Over the last 10 years, FlexLink has South Africa. To remain a market leaddeveloped and launched products, er, you need to be a leader in all areas. innovation based on close customer
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