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Salt sticks: long, fragile but no longer a problem to pack

05/01/1999

Saltsticks (those twig-like, salted biscuits) are a highly popular snack in many countries around the world. However, the sticks have long posed problems for automated weighing and automated packaging procedures.

The problems are related to the length of the sticks and their fragility. Their length enables them, when out of alignment with each other or with the direction of flow, to tangle together or cause blockages in the packaging equipment. This can lead them to break, as they can free fall through any considerable distance. Manual packing is labour intensive, and not without its hygiene problems.

ETI Group are a leading Turkish producer of saltsticks, cheese sticks, biscuits, cookies and cupcakes. They turned to Ishida, and local Turkish agent, Elbak, to help them automate their saltstick packing operations.

The Ishida solution Seven specially modified Ishida CCW-RZ-214W-S/20-PB weighing machines were installed at the ETI Group factory. A crosshead feeder moves the sticks to the top of the Ishida multihead weigher, where they spread out onto the extra-long, convex radial feeder troughs. The ends of these troughs are specially shaped to aid a gentle transition from near-horizontal to vertical. Funnel inserts in both pool and weigh hoppers help to maintain correct orientation.

The product falls out of the Ishida weigh hoppers onto a specially profiled upper discharge chute. This prevents it from swirling and helps to maintain correct orientation. A pneumatic ring shutter stops the product briefly, slowing its fall and reducing damage. The sticks then exit the Ishida multihead weighing machine via a parabolic lower discharge chute. An iris-type timing hopper mechanism again briefly stops each weighment of sticks, just before they enter the bagmaker. This compacts the weighment it into a tight, perfectly orientated bundle, ready for automated packing.

Higher speed, greater accuracy, better hygiene The ETI Group packing lines are now delivering 40g packs of saltsticks at the rate of 70 per minute, and 60g packs of cheese straws at 65-70 per minute. Mean pack weight is now 40.1g, with a standard deviation of just 0.5g. This amounts to a 100% increase in accuracy.

ETI Group officials believe that the reduction in giveaway has correspondingly increased their production yield, while eliminating any potential legal problems arising from negative tolerances.

Hygiene has been greatly improved by the switch from manual weighing to automated weighing and automated packaging, and by the reduction in the number of transfer points in the process. Reduced breakage has also reduced product dust, making for a cleaner working environment.