Problem: A manufacturer of liquorice pastilles needed to reduce product giveaway by as much as 10% to maximise throughput. The sweets were packed into 23g cartons using volumetric fillers. In order to ensure the correct weight in each pack, it was necessary to overfill by as much as 2-3 grams per pack. It was also important to maintain production line speeds.
Solution: Installation of a 24-head Ishida multihead weigher has enabled the company to effectively pack an extra carton for every 10 packs produced – giving a quick return on investment. The weigher is currently operating at 280 packs per minute – well within its speed potential and limited only by other parts of the packing line.
The 24 weighing heads can be segregated into six sections of four heads each. Six weighments at a time are despatched into a funnel system that packs the pastilles into the cartons. In addition, the weigh hoppers feature anti-stick C4 material to ensure that the pastilles do not clump together and thus flow freely and quickly through the machine.
Ishida’s funnel/depositing system directs the six weighments into six cups presented under the weigher which is linked to the packing system so that if for any reason less than six weighments are despatched, only the equivalent number of cups is presented underneath.
This compact weigher has 1.5 litre weigh hoppers from the company’s R series which achieve close to 100% efficiency and increase weighing accuracy by 0.5% per pack compared with the previous best technology.
