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Software guarantees product numbers in frozen food packs

09/01/2000

Special software on an Ishida multihead weigher is enabling the accurate packing of frozen dumplings and frozen stuffing balls to guarantee that each pack contains the right amount of product.

Tryton Foods of Hull produces the famous Aunt Bessie’s brand, best known for its market-leading Yorkshire Puddings. The Company has recently extended its product range with the introduction of Aunt Bessie’s Frozen Dumplings and Frozen Stuffing Balls.

To handle the new products, Tryton Foods has installed an Ishida CCW-NZ-210W-S/30-WP mulithead weighing machine with Count Priority Software, which has been devised for applications where companies need to guarantee a specified number of products in each bag.

Because the piece weights of the products are relatively consistent, the multihead weigher can calculate the exact number of items in the weigh hoppers during the weighing process. For each pack it therefore selects the combination of hoppers which will achieve the required total.

At the same time, the Ishida weighing machine also continues to monitor overall pack weights to ensure that minimum or average weight legislation requirements are being met.

For a typical bag of Frozen Stuffing Balls containing 12 items, the stated pack weight is 310g and the Ishida weighing machine is weighing at a speed of around 57 bags per minute, in conjunction with a Sandiacre bagmaker.

The CCW-NZ-210 weighing machine is a compact version of Ishida’s market-leading multihead weigher range. It is capable of speeds up to 75 wpm while its reduced dimensions save valuable factory space. The waterproof version offers a number of enhancements for frozen food applications to optimise product flow and ensure easy cleaning and compliance with strict hygiene standards.

The Ishida multihead weigher installation at Tryton Foods also includes a number of additional enhancements to ease the handling of the frozen dumplings and stuffing balls which are prone to rolling and are therefore difficult to control.

These include adjustments to the flighted elevator that feeds the Ishida multihead weigher in order to prevent product rollback, and a special Ring Gate on the multihead weigher itself to control the product flow to the weigh hoppers.

Ishida worked closely with Tryton Foods in the installation of the new line. “We have been very pleased with the Ishida multihead weigher and the Company’s overall contribution to this project,” comments Tim Stafford of Tryton Foods.