Nothing says clean
like Clean-Geartech
u Future proofing your food safety plans
u The highest waterproof rating - IP69K
u A special surface treatment (not a
coating) - on all aluminium gear drives
u Hygienic design
Contact us today
0800 147 847 or visit eqm.co.nz
Produce Snack Meat Beverage Dairy
DRIVE
The Clean-Geartech Stainless Steel
& Aluminium gear drive family offers:
FT588
EQM HELPS FUTURE PROOF
YOUR FOOD SAFETY PLAN
Throughout the past year, EQM
has been showcasing across New
Zealand a family of gearboxes and
motors that are cleaning up. The
Clean-Geartech geardrive is already
being used in food processing
facilities throughout New Zealand
since its introduction last year. Now,
helical bevel gearboxes in stainless
steel have been added to the family.
Another smart addition to the family
is the Z series of aluminium motors
and worm gearboxes of the same
design. These aluminium geardrives
feature the latest in surface treatment
technology called NTT, which is
perfect for damp environments that
do not demand the high standard of
its stainless steel cousin.
“We’ve recently installed Clean-
Geartech into a food processing
facility making purees where epoxy
coatings weren’t enduring the daily
sanitisation process,” the company
says. “They’re perfect for meat,
dairy, poultry, seafood, salads,
confectionary and ready-to-eat
products. They’re smooth operating
and smooth in looks – there’s no
nook and crannies that can attract
food waste, therefore they’re easy to
keep clean.”
Offering waterproof protection
(IP69K) and high efficiency (IE3)
are just a few features essential
to eliminating hygiene issues
and handling high-wash down
environments. EQM’s Clean-
Geartech products will help you
future proof your food safety plan.
Too often I see projects that
are minor tweaks in the
formulation of a product
or in the manufacturing
techniques used in different sectors
of the food industry. Frequently we
see companies acquiring technology
from others – simply copying and
applying what has been learnt
elsewhere. These approaches are
cheap, fast to implement and may
provide a short-term return on
investment. However, we can do so
much better.
In New Zealand we are fortunate
to have skilled scientists in
government research organisations
such as Plant and Food Research
and AgResearch…in addition
to academic researchers with a
focus on food in at least five of our
universities. We are also fortunate to
have some of our largest companies
such as Fonterra and Zespri
making a substantial and long-term
investment in research.
However, this is not enough. New
Zealand lags behind the average
for OECD countries in terms of
R&D investment at 1.6% of GDP,
compared with the 2.4% OECD
average in 2016.
As an academic in a university that
specialises in food research I am
very much aware of the lack of
funding opportunities. We rely on
students who have their own funding
from international sources as the
engine driving much of our research
programme. All of our research has
an applied focus, resulting from
our knowledge of the industry and
the challenges we see need to be
addressed.
We know we are doing good work
through the recognition we get from
invitations to attend international
symposia and awards, such as one
won by my research team last year.
This recognition is great, but to
sustain a good research programme
requires financial investment.
So, why is research in New Zealand
so poorly funded? From my
perspective, the key to this problem
is that most of our manufacturing
THE VALUE
OF FOOD
RESEARCH
Major step changes in the food industry
can only be achieved through significant
investment in research and development,
says Massey University food safety and
microbiology expert Professor Steve Flint.
32 ANNUAL DIRECTORY 2019