Most producers of equipment for the food processing industry will agree that the act of purchasing is but a part of the sales process. Some say the true value of a company lies in their post-sale customer approach, equipment maintenance and engineering services, besides delivering top quality products in the first place.
An example of such a company is leading conveyor belt manufacturer Ashworth, which offers a full range of engineering services and solutions for lotension and self stacking freezing systems. Their experts can provide troubleshooting advice over the phone or provide turnkey installation and commissioning on any belt they produce and sell, therefore offering food processing companies peace of mind with decades of experience, quality workmanship, and on-going comprehensive conveyor belt support. “Ashworth continuously works with our customers to monitor belt tensions, observe system performance, and assists with the development of predictive/preventive maintenance programs to prevent downtime in spiral freezing applications. We realize that spiral system reliability in food processing plants is essential. Our Factory Service experts have more than 100 years of combined experience in optimizing the performance of both lotension and self stacking spiral freezing systems,” according to company representatives.
Staying ahead
Major food processing companies in recent years have continued to lower their inventories on spare belts as a way to reduce inventory cost. As a result, food processing companies expect suppliers to shorten their delivery lead times in order to meet their delivery expectations. Ashworth manufactures a comprehensive range of spiral and turn curve belts designed to operate in freezing applications that employ the use of a lotension spiral, or self-stacking systems. Their Omni Pro® belt is designed with a patented zero tension 360° button less welds that increases load bearing capacity and is easier to clean than belts that utilize button welds. The increased load capacity potentially enables food processors to increase hourly production rates on existing systems or on new spiral systems. The patented protrusion leg design minimizes wear on cage bar caps in spiral systems whereby limiting the frequency for replacing worn and damaged cage caps, which enables food processors to reducing maintenance cost. “In freezing applications food processors sometime have soft and sticky products that have a difficult time releasing from a belt with a wire mesh surface. In order to facilitate the product release process and minimize product damage Ashworth introduced the Advantage™ belt in 2006, which was the first metal/plastic hybrid conveyor belt, and it is the industry’s first and only spiral belt to be NSF certified as well as USDA Accepted and BISSC verified,“ explained company representatives exclusively to Frozen Food Europe. “Other plastic belts have been tested but only the Advantage™ belt is proven to be cleanable. In situations where product release is critical, food processors look to plastic as a potential solution. However, if they are retrofitting a spiral to use a traditional all plastic belt they should consider the potential of additional cost associated with adding support rails to the system to prevent belt sag.
The sag results from a lack of beam strength because of the use of all plastic rods. In order to accommodate product loads similar to those loads handle by all stainless steel belts; plastic belt competitors increase the mass of the modules to support the product load. These bulky modules limit air flow within the freezer and increase required product dwell times and energy cost. The stainless rods in the Advantage™ belt are capable of carrying heavier loads than plastic belts. The Advantage™ belt has less bulky modules which results in more open area in the belt. Intertek, an independent third party global testing agency conducted airflow testing of the Advantage™ 200 belt. Their test results proved that this belt performs remarkably better than any of the competitor’s plastic belts. The greater the open area in the belt results in reduced dwell time, faster freezing, higher throughput, and reduced energy cost,” they added. In 2009, the company also introduced the ExactaStack™ belt, in order to provide food processors with the ability to source spiral belts from a single supplier. The ExactaStack™ belt is a drop-in replacement for OEM’s standard and wide belt stackers. The belt is available in all widths, tier heights, and mesh configurations; and for splice-in and complete belt replacements. The ExactaStack™ can also be used in applications where product release is critical, because it was designed to use the Advantage overlay. This is the only self stacking belt available with the markets only plastic overlay. It is also proven by Intertek, the independent third party international testing agency, to have the greatest open area, suitable for a stacker’s vertical airflow.
Better tailored to customers’ requirements
GEA has expanded its portfolio of offerings for compact dry coolers, in order to better serve in the future the cooling requirements for small and medium-sized gensets. In addition, these compact cooling systems can be effectively used for extensive areas of industrial process technology. These coolers with their modular design are now available as newly developed models with various types of finned-tube geometry for the heat exchangers. Customers can now choose between individually matched materials and specific geometries for the finned tubes, which enable significant functional improvements in the system.
For the heat exchanger materials, customers can now select among copper, copper-nickel, as well as among tubes made of stainless steel and C steel with compact ribs consisting of aluminum, copper, or stainless steel. For the light-metal ribs, GEA uses a special PoluAl coating that is especially resistant to chemical substances. The choice of fans has likewise been enlarged to enable quiet, speed-controlled operation – and EC motors are now optional. Some cooler models already offer these highly efficient EC fans as standard features. The majority of compact industrial coolers from GEA is now available both in high- and low-temperature models, with cases made of hot-dip-galvanized steel and epoxy-based, anti-corrosion coating.