6 minute read
Automated solutions that meet the needs of the South African market
Food security and value for money will support business growth and help feed the nation, explains Melika Seiderer, newly-appointed general sales manager, Ishida South Africa.
When times are tough, being in the food industry is generally regarded as something of a safe haven. The argument being that even in straitened times, people still have to eat.
When budgets are tight, cost becomes a critical factor in any purchase. Food manufacturers must aim to deliver quality products while achieving maximum efficiencies and throughput on their production lines. The resultant competitive pricing will allow these companies to succeed – whatever the state of the economy.
The need to deliver value for money goes even deeper in South Africa. According to Stats SA, 6.8 million South Africans experienced hunger in 2017. Although this number has halved since 2002, hunger still affects 1.7 million households across the country. Affordability therefore becomes a critical factor in having enough to eat.
Moral and commercial issues are driving the development of automated solutions on the production and packing line that can enable food manufacturers to deliver products which are manufactured and packed safely and minimise waste, while maximising speed and throughput to ensure the best economies of scale.
This is not a new phenomenon. The multihead weigher, for example, invented by Ishida back in the 1970s, has been delivering pinpoint accuracy in the weighing of a huge variety of food products for well over 40 years. There have been many developments in the weigher’s capabilities during that time.
Today’s models can handle a much wider variety of products and at higher speeds than earlier versions. Design and technical enhancements have included the use of special contact surface materials for sticky products and reduced angles for fragile items.
Equally important, software advances have allowed the introduction of more responsive hoppers and improved loadcells that deliver even greater accuracy levels. In the early days of multihead weighing, a reduction of giveaway to 0.1g was achievable; now this can be as low as 0.01g. Aside from additional cost savings and efficiencies, one of the most important benefits of the improvements in standard deviation is that it can further increase pack consistency whilst minimising product giveaway.
If accurate weighing is essential to delivering value for money, this cannot be at the expense of product safety. It is important to maintain product quality and freshness and to ensure that it is freefrom any unwanted foreign bodies.
For food manufacturers, the priority is to identify the best-performing machines to help meet their production needs and value proposition. At Ishida, a key benefit of its tray sealers is that all models have the flexibility to cope with and switch easily between pack types and materials, while being able to run at very high efficiency.
Similarly, snacks bagmakers feature servo motors and software-controlled variable seal time, jaw temperature and pressure to deliver a high level of precision. Strippers plates clear the seal area before sealing, which ensures good pack quality, and servo-driven and vacuum-assisted pulldown belts enable accurate and consistent bag lengths to optimise film use and enhance pack presentation.
Confirming the quality of the sealing process is equally important to prevent any sub-standard packs causing early food deterioration. Seal testers check the integrity of snack pillow packs and top-sealed, thermoformed, flow-wrapped or lidded trays in different materials and sizes by applying controlled pressure to each pack going across a conveyor in order to detect any unwanted ‘give’.
A recent Ishida innovation in the field of in-line leak detection is the Airs can system that uses laser technology to detect CO2 leaks from holes as small as 0.25mm in MAP packs, without stopping production and at a top speed of 180 packs per minute.
As the testing process is very gentle, both of these technologies further minimise food waste, so that product can be saved and repacked.
One of the most vital areas of food quality is ensuring that packed product is free of foreign bodies. This is especially critical as lines become more automated, meaning there are fewer personnel available to spot any problems. This has led to the development of X-ray inspection technology which has the ability to spot many unwanted items, including metal, stone, glass and dense plastic, as well as other quality issues such as broken, deformed or missing products.
All Ishida X-ray inspection systems incorporate the company’s patented intelligent genetic algorithm (GA) technology. For many products, the contaminants found are generally similar. By analysing image data over multiple generations, the machines achieve an extremely high level of precision and this in particular provides greater sensitivity in the detection of low- density foreign bodies.
With such an array of equipment available throughout the packing line, the challenge is not just in selecting the right machine for each part of the operation but to ensure that product transfer between the various processes can take place quickly and effectively and that the entire line is fully-integrated and able to operate at maximum efficiency.
This is where the benefit of having a single supplier really comes to the fore. Such a company will be able to take full responsibility for the design and installation of the line, selecting the most appropriate models to create a bespoke solution that is best able to meet the customer’s production targets and quality standards.
It must be recognised that, whether seeking a single machine for the first steps on the automation route or the installation of a complete packing line, both can involve a significant investment. This is particularly true for SMEs.
It is important that any investment is considered more than simply in the context of the initial purchase price. Features such as high speeds, efficiency and flexibility to deliver maximum output, together with the long-term reliability of the equipment, can result in low cost of ownership and a very fast return on investment. Equally important, the best suppliers combine the offer of advanced equipment with strong aftersales support to ensure machines continue to perform at their optimum.
The breadth of equipment available is also critical, with a choice of machines to meet different requirements and budgets. At Ishida, the wide variety of models in all the equipment ranges includes entry-level variants that are competitively priced while still offering the advanced technology for which Ishida is renowned. This enables smaller and start-up companies to begin their automation journey.
Embracing automation is the first important step to growth, and an especially significant focus for South Africa where the government’s National Development Plan 2030 is looking to SMEs to be major sources of employment and drivers of growth for the economy.
The plan recognises that the potential for job creation increases as a small business matures and that it is important that SMEs receive relevant support early on, especially as over 50% say they need assistance in being able to access markets and around 40% acknowledge that the industries in which they operate are extremely competitive.
At Ishida, long-term customer partnerships have been fundamental to its success and growth worldwide, and the company remains focused on providing the high level of support and advice required. The range of equipment on offer, combined with longstanding knowledge of many end-markets and comprehensive after-sales and service support, mean Ishida can assist a business on its growth path.
In addition to ongoing economic challenges, the coronavirus pandemic has had serious implications for all economies worldwide. Effective automation will play a key role in the recovery and to enabling businesses to prosper in the future; and close customer and supplier partnerships will be best-placed to make the most of the opportunities.
In South Africa, this will help to provide the competitively-priced foods needed to counter the hunger crisis, and the means to enable forward-looking businesses to achieve success and growth. •
