The ideal cost-benefit ratio has become one of the most important criteria when making a purchasing decision during these difficult economic times. This is especially true in the field of technology and logistics, where producers rely on knowledge derived from experience, innovations and constant adaptation to the changing needs of the client.
Heinen Freezing from Lower Saxony, Germany, has been a leading global manufacturer for 30 years and is an expert in cooling and freezing or pasteurizing of all types of food. Under the leadership of Managing Director Jochen Hottinger, the company is intensifying and expanding its activities on the market, increasing its sales team, as well as further upgrading existing systems or developing new ones. In 2012, Heinen Freezing delivered the largest multilevel box freezers with a capacity of 400 tons per plant for a German meat producer, which meant an important performance (of 20 t/h product in cartons) and was a step in a new dimension for the company. The equipment named packfrost. contributed in part to their success. packfrost. The equipment known as packfrost. has various shelf-sizes from 5,8m to 7,5m, single or double loaded and the freezer itself, with various levels in height and number of shelves one after the other offers a modular design with regard to the entire capacity and number of storage space, aas well as to the available space in the production hall. The increasing of capacity was possible by redesigned shelves.
A larger quantity of air pours through the shelves and around the boxes. The air velocity targeting directly the boxes is of main influence to the freezing speed and thus to the capacity of the system and the product quality. Further improvements in the air flow lead to reduction of pressure lost inside the system. Heinen’s engineers do not focus only further energy reduction but also consider the plants safety operation and increasing the reliability in their developments. Now all movements of the elevators and of the pusher are realized with servo driven motors. All servo drives are connected via a field bus and can be monitored very closely. The servo drives, made by SEW Eurodrive are equipped with special Hiperface® incremental encoders which do not need to do a reference run after power failure. In addition to using incremental encoders a multitude of normal sensors have been replaced and the reliability increased. The remaining light barriers and sensors have been equipped with heating elements for assuring a long lasting function.
Monitoring the production chain
A pioneer in the field of data logger technology is the Japanese market leader T&D Corporation. Founded 1986 in a high-tech site at Matsumoto, Japan, the company now exports its products worldwide. The name T&D derives from the phrase “try and develop” and emphasizes the company’s ambition to create innovative products with a high degree of practical usefulness. A closer look at its current technology illustrates the possibilities. To accommodate the individual needs of the different types of surroundings, data logger systems can be fitted in several ways. LAN, USB or GSM network connections enable large areas and difficult to access locations to be monitored effectively. The most common measurements are temperature and humidity, but there are also data loggers for CO2 content, barometric pressure, luminance, UV, voltage, electrical current and pulse. As well as being able to monitor data on a computer, users can call up the required information on site with a wireless handheld data collector, with which they can also edit settings and receive temperature warnings. Taking measurements during transportation is simple too: Data loggers connected via wireless communication can monitor readings even in freezing atmospheres with temperatures down to -30 °C, for instance in refrigerated vehicles. Cable-connected devices can in fact measure in much colder surroundings, achieving readings down to -199 °C, depending of the sensor. Data loggers can monitor if the cold chain has been interrupted and send warning messages in case of failure. If any disturbance should occur at any monitored point during the cold chain – whether during production, transport or storage – warning notifications can be sent over the network. Depending on the type of network being used, alarm e-mails or SMS can be sent out and the disturbance can be tracked over the T&D WebStorage Service.
Data recording and cloud computing
Without data loggers, employees normally have to take regular readings from goods and various locations across the production site and storage units. This requires manpower, takes time and means that human error cannot be excluded. Networked data loggers, on the other hand, forward recorded data at arbitrary intervals over a base station or communication port to a server or computer.
The data is automatically stored in relevant files and documented to fulfill legal requirements. Aside from this, continuous and accurate monitoring makes it possible to determine how much energy is required so that these needs can be balanced out. With steadily increasing energy costs, better efficiency is essential for frozen food producers in particular and has a positive impact on the environment. To help further ease data handling, the T&D Corporation offer its clients additional services commonly referred to by the umbrella term “cloud computing”. This means that T&D supplies elements of information technology such as network capacity, data storage and software – the end user does not have to purchase, install or maintain any of this. The T&D WebStorage Service is an example. Users of T&D data loggers can forward and save their data on T&D’s central server. The company offers sufficient capacity to store several years’ worth of data files in most cases. The great advantage of this system is that access is possible at any time and from everywhere: All that is needed is a computer or mobile device that can log in over the World Wide Web. It is even possible to share data. For example, monitoring goods during transportation is of benefit for the carrier as well as for the sender and the receiver. Data loggers such as the RTR-501 can be easily fixed into packaging or cargo areas. Recorded measurements are then forwarded wirelessly to a base station placed, for instance, in the truck driver’s cabin. Thus, data can be controlled in a first step.