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How to unload 1.3 tonnes of tomato paste in ten minutes!
Food Service Specialties uses the Graco SaniForce 2.0 Bin Evacuation System for rapid unloading of tomato totes, and is delighted that the system is so quick and easy to clean.
25 years ago, Food Service Specialties (FSS) of Red Wing, Minnesota, USA, was facing a serious problem. Demand for their custom tomato- and dairy-based sauces for private label was booming. Orders from their downstream restaurant, frozen food, and retail grocer partners were coming in thick and fast.
Of course, the orders weren’t the problem; it was their inability to fulfil them. FSS knew it was taking two of their employees all day to unload a 1135-liter tote of tomato paste before they could begin cooking. During this time, orders would fall behind. They needed a solution. Fast.
Graco to the rescue
The solution came in the shape of two 2-piston Senator pump-based Graco unloading systems. Once they were up and running, these systems cut evacuation time of a 1135-liter tote from one day to just 20 minutes. FSS was soon unloading nearly 23,000 kilograms of tomato products daily. And only one employee with a forklift was needed to move product in, set up the system, unload, and remove the empty totes. Productivity rose, orders were met, customers were delighted.
BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY FURTHER
25 years down the line, and those trusty Senator pumps were beginning to feel their age, with breakdowns and stoppages more frequent. It was time for another significant transformation in FSS’s processes.
To fix the increasing maintenance burden, Anderson Dahlen, manufacturing solutions provider, installed two Graco SaniForce® 2.0 Bin Evacuation Systems (BES), each with two 4-piston pumps. In addition, it’s equipped with an electric controlled control design which almost completely eliminates operator interaction. Thanks to its PLC interface with Allen Bradley or Siemens control systems, the unloading process can be operated remotely with electronic PLCs.
These new systems cut unloading time by more than half, evacuating 1,315 kilograms of tomato product in less than 10 minutes. FSS was soon unloading 26 totes per day, doubling their production to 45,000 kilograms per day.
Efficiency through faster cleaning
But FSS isn’t a company to stand idly around admiring their high throughput figures. They knew that further improvements were still possible. In particular, they were looking at how quickly the pumps could be cleaned after use and therefore be ready for action again.
Process equipment integrator Spec Engineering installed an additional I/O panel to tie into the Graco BES operator control station. This allowed seamless integration into the customer’s existing Clean-In-Place (CIP) regimen. CIP is a method of cleaning the interior surfaces of process equipment without disassembly. These systems circulate cleaning liquids in a cleaning circuit through machines, processing lines and other equipment.
Of course, with two SaniForce 2.0 BES systems running, that’s eight pumps to clean instead of four. But rather than doubling the cleaning time as you might expect, cleaning time was actually reduced! It now takes one FSS employee just three hours per week to clean the two systems with eight pumps, compared to the five hours a week to clean four pumps.
Faster unloading and faster cleaning give FSS more time to make those delicious sauces and get them delivered quicker to customers!
More information
With SaniForce® 2.0, Graco provides a fluid transfer solution for almost every application in the food & beverage and personal care industries. These solutions save money, speed up processes, reduce waste, and improve safety and hygiene. For further information, contact Bart Clerx, Product Marketing Manager at bart.clerx@graco.com or fill in the below form.
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