Packaging ¦ IDM
May/June 2022 ¦ international-dairy.com · 13
regarding best possible hygiene and cleanability. The valve terminals
for the basic machine, for instance, have therefore been enclosed
and the Plexiglas doors designed without gaps.
Conversion during ongoing production
and under Covid-19 constraints
The modernisation of line 1 started in November 2020 and the
commissioning followed in December already. The given interfaces
for the new packaging line were the outlet of the cooling tunnel
and the transfer to hand palletising. “The huge challenge was that
we had to carry out the conversion during ongoing production.
This meant many hands were needed to pack the jars into the
trays. And the assembly team had to be very flexible”, Lechner
explains.
Covid-19 restriction measures such as wearing facemasks, distancing,
disinfection and tests complicated matters further. “But
everything went smoothly and there were no hitches. After the
installation, power was connected to the system and the first jars
started running. During the subsequent optimisation process all
of the requirements we had set were fully implemented”, Lechner
adds. A key tool for optimising and securing the plant’s performance
is, according to Rapunzel, the option of remote maintenance,
Lechner goes on to say: “We did experience an operator
error once, and I called A+F on a Saturday – we were then able to
solve the situation together via remote maintenance.“
From exotic undertaking to organic food protagonist:
Rapunzel currently manufactures and sells approximately
550 brand products (photo: Rapunzel Naturkost)
Additional parts of the order
In addition to the wrap-around packer, the jar transport and a
buffer table providing approximately four and a half minutes buffer
time for 250 ml jars in the infeed were delivered and installed.
“This is the time we have gained for removing any malfunction.
However, nothing of the kind has yet occurred“, Lechner is pleased
to say. A fault in the packaging machine always meant a stop in
the upstream processing stage, such as cooling and filling. There
was also a follow-up project, Lechner adds: “A+F developed a
The specified output of the wrap-around
packer is 7,200 jars per hour.
/international-dairy.com
