Bagging system gets the thumbs up
The company portfolio includes extruded pellets for snack manufacturing; dry pasta ingredients for the food processing industry; and Pasta Rapido – an instant dried pasta that can be rehydrated in two to five minutes.
To develop its external business supplying semolina products to other food manufacturers, the firm first invested in the TBC and sack placer from Pacepacker Services in 2002 when it was used to bag product in 25kg paper sacks.
Up to 1,500 bags a day
Made using durum wheat, the variety of different semolina products for fresh pasta, snacks and other specialities has grown over the years; and, drawing on the flexibility of the TBC, Pasta Foods has added 20kg, 16kg and 8kg bags to its range.
“Pacepacker’s system handles on average 1,000 to 1,500 bags per day depending on the size of the bags,” said David Smith, mill manager, Pasta Foods.
“Although the majority of bags are 16kg or 25kg in size, we also run both 20kg and 8kg bags in limited numbers on the same machine.
“We do not have to make adjustments to the actual machine, but just alter the height of the conveyor to accommodate the different pack sizes.”
Dust reduction pads
The TBC installation includes a C Series Sack Placer, with a multi-pile sack magazine. Using a vacuum system, the sack placer automatically lifts individual bags from a stack and places them onto the sack clamp.
In the dusty environment created by the packing of dry semolina products, Pasta Foods opted for sack clamps featuring Pacepacker Services’ dust reduction pads to alleviate any dust problems in the packing plant area.
As the semolina is released from the weigher into the bag, the clamp holds the bag firm and a retracting plate at the bottom of the bag extends and agitates the bag to ensure even filling of the product.
“There has been no deterioration in the performance of the Pacepacker equipment,” said Smith. “It has adapted as our business has adapted over the past 10 years.”
