www.foodtechnology.co.nz 31 CONVEYER SUCCESS PARTNERSHIP SEES TWO FOOD & BEVERAGE INSTALLATIONS Drawing inspiration from the classic Chinese Dragon Spine Conveyer, Western Australian Robert Walker first started up Floveyor by creating a highly efficient aero-mechanical prototype used to convey peanuts in the 1950s. This would later lead him to create the world’s first aero-mechanical solution for bulk material handling. Operating today as a third-generation family business, Floveyor is a global provider with a footprint in more than 50 countries. In excess of 5000 conveyors have been installed globally handling thousands of different materials, and the team recently received an award from the prestigious 2017 Business News ‘40 Under 40’ Awards in the family business category. Two successful installations at two very different food and beverage manufacturing companies on two different continents have recently been completed…with a common thread. The team at Floveyor partnered with NORD Drivesystems and Inenco/CBC to help automate both applications. A Chinese-based customer approached Floveyor to assist with its unique requirements for a brewery plant in the Philippines. Through a hands-on consultative approach, Floveyor understood that the machine had to be carefully designed to transport material efficiently into buffet tanks without any contamination, sales manager Teddy Craies says. “The material was to be fed manually and the unit needed to handle up to 40kg manual bags while taking safe handling practice and ergonomic loading processes into consideration.” Factoring in issues around dust during transportation, a special hopper was designed to suit the customer’s specific dust extraction unit and operating requirements, whilst considering environmental factors such as power efficiency. In addition, the unit also needed to be hygienic without the cost of a full-blown hygienic model, and had to operate in an earthquake-prone region. Due to export factors, the unit also needed to be easy-to-use and modular for quick installation and ease of transport. NORD considered both the customer and Floveyor’s requirements, and selected the NORD SK geared motor. “NORD strives to keep the total costs in view when selecting each solution for an application, and this particular motor is best-known for its power, energy efficiency and ability to meet the stringent requirements of the food industry,” NORD managing director Martin Broglia says. Back on Australian shores, a Victoria-based customer recently set up a new plant to handle various food ingredients, and Floveyor was tasked with developing a custom-designed bulk mag unloading unit which needed to conform to international hygienic standards with a clean out-of-place design, hygienic GMP accessible screw and an easy-to-clean, removable grid. “The application itself required that various food items such as rice, porridge with fruit pieces, vanilla custards and other similar food items were fed from bulk bags at a capacity of 3000kg per hour,” Craies says. The unit was supplied with an integrated electric hoist lifting frame, a manual Iris valve for flow control/ shut off on the bag outlet, pneumatic bag massagers for product discharge, a mini screw feeder and dump station in stainless steel 304, which needed to be dust-tight to suit the FIBC unloading spout. The unit was also supplied with a fully electrical PLC and pneumatic controls. Craies says the team at NORD and Inenco/CBC were involved from the start of both the projects to assist Floveyor in making the right motor selection. “In addition, we consulted with our customer in the election process and this led to further discussion regarding specific project requirements and motor selection for the budget,” he says. “NORD delivered on all aspects of the project in terms of specifications, delivery time, budget and technical support. Their ability to understand the projects’ requirements while meeting deadlines as per the specification were the deciding factors in partnering with them.” L O G I S T I C S Floveyor Hygienic AMC with installed PLC and Bulk Bag structure in place Floveyor Hygienic reusable bulk bag loader with full controls and manual loading system attached. Floveyor AMC for beverage manufacturing customer with custom hopper and dust containment system showing full system with NORD motor installed.
FT-eMag-feb18
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