Protecting Fragile Food Product During Bulk Food Processing Operations
During material discharge, optical sensors ensure a maximum drop height of no more than 5 inches throughout the entire 150º tote rotation.
This automated bulk material handling system provides a total process solution for moving highly fragile food product through multiple process operations into bulk storage for temporary holding prior to final packaging. At a process rate of 12,000 pounds per hour, bulk totes of food product are nested into a lift carriage; the tote is sealed to a custom-designed discharge hood. The tote is vertically conveyed, using 1-1/2 inch, solid 304 stainless steel track and cam rollers, to a 23-foot discharge height. During tilting of the tote, optical sensors ensure a maximum product discharge drop distance of no more than 5 inches throughout the entire 150º rotation. Additional material handling occurs as three stages of vibratory conveyor move the highly fragile food product through two stages of high-speed image processing and sorting to ensure the material maintains its original characteristics throughout processing. The finish-processed food product is then moved into a storage tote using a reverse-tilt fill method to, again, ensure the product drop does not exceed 5 inches during filling. The final take-away conveyor section includes an integrated, NTEP-certified weigh system to ensure the filled tote weight is accurate to +/- .01% of the tote’s 4,000-pound total capacity.
Conveyor and container routing is directed from a single, menu-driven HMI designed and built by NBE. NBE automation expertise integrated the system-wide control, communication, monitoring, and data reporting to the facility’s central control system architecture. NBE integrated automation and performance-proven construction increased material processing rates while reducing material reject rates.
Sanitary Bulk Material Handling Equipment Cleanability: Value, Risk & Outcome
Can a typical, industrial bulk material handling system in a sanitary processing operation be thoroughly cleaned, even to the microbial level? Probably. But, with every cleaning event of a process-inappropriate bulk material handling system comes increased costs for labor, consumables (such as detergents and water), and energy. And, more importantly, with hard-to-clean equipment in sanitary applications comes a greater risk for inspection failure and product contamination. This post, the third in a series (Part 1 and Part 2) regarding sanitary bulk material handling equipment, will address several structural design features to look for in the construction of application-specific, sanitary bulk material handling equipment. To proactively specify these cleanability design features into sanitary bulk material handling equipment will reduce the costs and time of cleaning events, will aid in improving validation and inspection outcomes, and will ensure optimal compliance contribution (OCC).
Continuous weld seams are ground to a No. 4 finish, hand-burnished to eliminate pits, dimples, and crevices.
• Continuous-weld seams, ground smooth to a No. 4 finish: Weld seams, particularly in product contact areas and adjacent areas, must be free of pits, dimples, and crevices that could harbor contaminants such as material residue, microbes, and allergens. In addition to the No. 4 finish, hand-burnished weld seams will improve gross soil removal and resistance to microbial build-up during operation and cleaning.
Non-obstructing raceway contains unbundled utility lines; reduces material build-up, eases cleaning, inspection.
• Unbundled Utility Lines and Hoses: Counter to the typical, industrial machine design philosophy, the utility lines and hoses should be left unbundled. Unbundled utilities will minimize the accumulation of food, dirt, or other organic matter; and therefore reduce the opportunity for growth of microorganisms. Unbundled does not mean uncontrolled. A non-obstructive raceway contains the utility lines and hoses and enables fast and thorough cleaning, promotes material release, eliminates re-cleaning, and aids validation and inspection.
• Laser-cut, Single-plate Sideframe Construction: Typical, industrial machine design often builds substructures using square-tube framework. However, inherent with square-tube construction is the significant number of internal angles, corners, and welded seams that will often block contaminants from cleaning procedures. Laser-cut, single-plate frameworks provides significant cleanability and sanitary operating advantages over square-tube framework. By eliminating the internal angles, corners, and weld seams, laser-cut, single-plate framework reduces cleaning steps, reduces water and detergent use, improves cleanability, and protects product from contamination.
Sure, process-inappropriate equipment can be put into sanitary processing operations, and it may perform its mechanical operations effectively. But, for the sanitary process operation that is driven by external influences such as regulatory compliance, or internal influences such as HACCP programs, application-specific sanitary equipment construction will provide OCC without compromise to the equipment's mechanical operation.
Bulk Material Handling in Sanitary Applications: Regulatory Influences and Compliance-ready Equipment Design
The signing into law of the Food Safety Modernization Act, on January 4, 2011, enabled the Food and Drug Administration to, "...set in motion sweeping improvements to the security and safety of our nation's food supply." Close on the heels of the FSMA, the FDA, on April 20, 2011, released its 'Strategic Priorities 2011 - 2015' document. One of the strategic priorities presented in the document is to, 'Strengthen Compliance and Enforcement Activities to Support Public Health'. Within the context of this particular strategy the FDA makes clear that it will be, "...implementing a number of new programs designed to sharpen the effectiveness and timeliness of its regulatory, compliance, and enforcement systems." Certainly the complexities of international supply chains, and the quantity and diversity of touchpoints throughout the farm-to-table spectrum call for greater attention and more effective oversight on the part of the FDA and other governing bodies. But, what does this mean for food processing and packaging operations? How can a production facility respond?
Clearly, the best course of action is to be proactive. The FDA, in its strategic documents, is emphatic about taking enforcement action more rapidly, and, "...protecting the public health through criminal prosecution...to deter conduct that violates FDA-enforced laws." One of the first proactive actions in a food processing operation should be a thorough evaluation of any bulk material handling equipment used in a sanitary food processing application; whether in early-stage material input processes, or later-stage operations integrated deeper into the process. Sanitary process operations are no place to settle for force-fit, general-industry bulk material handling equipment. NBE sanitary-application bulk material handling systems eliminate the inspection failures, retrofits, corrective fabrication and finishing, re-programming, and re-inspections resulting when general industry units are force-fit into sanitary processes. Each NBE sanitary bulk material handling system, including: bulk bag fillers, bulk bag unloaders, container dumpers, and bag dump stations is designed and built to be compliance-ready and to conform, from the ground up, to the specific regulated processes and practices of each application. NBE expertise in domestic and international standards across design categories, such as: electrical and mechanical, hydraulics and pneumatics, and safety and controls provide proactive assurance of best-practice sanitary equipment and process design. Just because equipment is built of stainless steel doesn't make it process-compliant. bring clarity and confidence to material handling equipment compliance and process acceptance procedures with the advantages of NBE sanitary-construction material handling equipment and proactive regulatory compliance capabilities.