< Previous30 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net PUMPS AND FLUIDS The importance of finding the right pump The importance of finding the right pump 30-33.qxp_Layout 1 17/12/2021 14:55 Page 1Food & Drink International 31 www.fdiforum.net PUMPS AND FLUIDS Just like the heart in the human body, pumps are one of the core elements in the production line of the food and drink industry, which is why the selection of one should not be taken lightly. Pumps are one of the most important elements in the processing and manufacturing of the food and drink industry. They oversee a wide range of tasks throughout the whole manufacturing process, from dispensing and filling, to blending and mixing, filtering, sampling, metering and unloading. But while hearts only deal with one type of fluid, blood, pumps handle different types of products, liquid and solid, raw and processed. The design and functionality of pumps need to be adaptive and flexible to a wide range of factors and requirements. But when it comes to pumps, it rarely is a one-fit-all solution, because the characteristics of one might not be suitable for a determined process or material. New pump development is focusing on creating specific models and designs that will respond to specific needs and applications, in order to minimise downtime and increase efficiency. However, selecting the right pump for the right purpose can be tricky as there are many elements to keep into consideration, and with new models being designed and released regularly, it becomes difficult to decide whether to prioritise flexibility or specialist features. The two main qualities a pump needs are the ability to maintain hygienic conditions and preventing contamination. Maintaining high hygienic conditions will ensure the quality and safety of the products, both throughout the processing phases and at the final stage, while preventing contamination will help saving processing time while avoiding any unnecessary waste. Keeping that in mind, the selection of a pump should be based on three factors: the characteristics of the materials treated, the ability of the pump to endure regular maintenance, and its cost- effectiveness. 32 Á 30-33.qxp_Layout 1 17/12/2021 14:55 Page 232 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net PUMPS AND FLUIDS It is important to know the products and materials and the properties that could affect the correct functioning of the pump and cause potential faults and failures; viscosity is one of the main elements that will affect a pump. Different fluids will have different degrees of viscosity and, hence, will require different types of flow. However, the viscosity of a fluid could be altered by many factors during the manufacturing process, like temperature, flow pressure, or the presence of gases in the plumbing system, so it is fundamental to select a pump that will have as little altering power as possible. Another element that should be considered during the selection of a pump is the presence of solid particles in the fluids. Products like soup, or yogurt, where solid particles can be found within the liquid, need to be handled carefully to make sure the quality and integrity of the product is not compromised. To do so, it is important to select a pumping system that will not damage the solid particles or that will limit the damage and will maintain the quality of the product till the end of the processing line. Durability and serviceability are two key features in the selection of the appropriate pump, but they are features that are easily affected by factors like the quality of materials or the cleaning and maintenance routines. Corrosiveness and abrasiveness of products can be very damaging and alter the integrity of the pump, along with the occurrence of chemical reactions and the formation of gases within the plumbing system. Most recent models of pumps are being built using stronger and tougher materials that can tolerate all the treatments a pump has to go through and withstand the test of time. Another element that affects a pump’s life is its cleanability. With today’s new hygienic standards, it is essential to be able to thoroughly clean all elements of a machinery and whether this can be achieved in place © stock.adobe.com/asayenka 30-33.qxp_Layout 1 17/12/2021 14:55 Page 3Food & Drink International 33 www.fdiforum.net PUMPS AND FLUIDS or by disassembling elements of the machinery can have an impact on the selection of a pump, but also on its performance. Clean in place situations allow to clean and sterilise a pump without the need to dismantle any piece of it and will, therefore, be more cost and time effective. With the food and drink market shifting its focus on sustainability of new products and procedures, manufacturers are required to adjust to these recent changes and adapt the procedures along with the machinery and technologies. Pumps are no exception. The food and drink industry is under a fair amount of pressure coming from both global authorities and consumers to limit its waste production and dispose of it in the most sustainable way. While the world is moving towards limiting its carbon emissions, the line of production should be shifting towards more sustainable practices and the selection of a pump should be influenced by these factors. New, more sustainable and more cost-effective models of pumps are being designed with the goal of reducing waste as much as possible. This includes the prevention of leakage and contamination, which could have a strong negative impact on the environment, but also compromise the quality and safety of products, and, hence, cost companies a lot of money. Finally, as much as selecting the right type of pump is fundamental, installing it correctly is as critical as the selection, and a lot of issues with malfunctioning pumps are related to errors occurred during installation. The selection of the right pump is complicated and there are many elements that need to be considered in order to pick the pump that will perform best and that will last the longest. With the new designs and models being updated and released regularly, it becomes even more complicated; however, it is only a matter of deciding which element to prioritise and base the selection on your specific needs. © stock.adobe.com/279photo 30-33.qxp_Layout 1 17/12/2021 14:55 Page 434 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net SORTING AND WEIGHING Made to measure 34-37.qxp_Layout 1 17/12/2021 14:59 Page 1Food & Drink International 35 www.fdiforum.net SORTING AND WEIGHING Exact measurements are necessary not only to meet industry standards and labelling laws, but also to ensure recipes are kept to. Proper sorting and weighing is as ubiquitous in food and drink as the weights and measurements on food labels – and both are deeply connected. From joking examples of bags of crisps containing more air than product, to the precise measurements of milk content in a bar of chocolate, accurate sorting and weighing is not just important, it is both legally and functionally essential. As such, the question isn’t so much on why a business needs to invest – it never has been – but instead how much, what can be done to increase the efficiency of the process and does the ROI justify any new investment. Globally, the pandemic and lockdown haven’t had a vast impact on the sorting and weighing market. Obviously, the suffering of customers does drip back onto them in some regard, and lockdown and staff retention has hit every business, but the food market has struggled more in the logistics and supply chain, which hasn’t impacted sorting and weighting quite so badly. In fact, the sorting machines market has been predicted to reach $6.10 billion by 2028, while the weighing market is expected to increase by over $700 million in the same period. Much of this interest is coming from APAC (Asia-Pacific) regions, specifically China, Japan and India. The driving forces behind this surge in APAC countries comes primarily from the improving reputation globally of food © stock.adobe.com/zlikovec © stock.adobe.com/vladimirnenezic 36 Á 34-37.qxp_Layout 1 17/12/2021 14:59 Page 236 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net SORTING AND WEIGHING products from the regions, which has, in turn, driven an investment on improving food quality and the exact measurements of ingredients. This mirrors other markets, especially in China where goods may once have been seen as mass-produced and inferior but are now quickly reaching international quality. This theme is being seen repeated all over the industry, especially in western markets where consumers are becoming ever more curious of what ingredients go into food, their calorie counts and such. With so much focus on specific numbers, improper measurement is a quick way to draw bad attention – and nowadays that travels quickly through social media outrage, spiralling far out of control of any dedicated PR or marketing team. Removal of foreign material and other dangerous matter by sorting machines has helped to avoid overloading other parts of an automated line, but it’s also known for its ability to select the best products and reject others. Cop26 this year, however, has caused many countries to look at reducing food waste, which could have a knock-on effect for the industry. Deciding what to do with de-selected goods will be a challenge for businesses going forward but there are sure to be sustainable options if one looks hard enough. In the meanwhile, sorting machines are becoming ever more technologically advanced, employing automated cameras and sensors in an effort to involve human interaction as little as possible. Naturally this frees up employees to work elsewhere, but it also opens the avenue for fully- automated production lines in the future. Currently, systems can detect and act on material, shape, size, colour, geometry and defects, sorting out the good from the bad on mostly aesthetic terms. This isn’t just ideal for identifying food from bad raw material, but new sensors can detect improper cuts, from a slicing machine for instance, in high- speed lines, identifying where problems © stock.adobe.com/focusandblur 34-37.qxp_Layout 1 17/12/2021 14:59 Page 3Food & Drink International 37 www.fdiforum.net SORTING AND WEIGHING in other parts of the manufacturing line may have occurred and giving staff time to move in and fix the issue. As sorters become more efficient, those producing them are looking for ways to further expand, and an exciting new avenue is the introduction of Artificial Intelligence. Not Skynet or true AI by any means but learning algorithms that can learn from product requirements and improve upon their ability to detect faults in real time. In the future, these rudimentary AI may evolve into something that can extrapolate information to determine how a product came into an irregular shape or condition and go back through the line to correct the problem, but for now the focus is on achieving the touted goal of perfect accuracy at any speed. When it comes to weighing, it’s much the same in terms of development. With key specifications of weight being required to meet recipes, perfect accuracy is not just ideal but necessary. Without it, consistency cannot be met, and this can cause problems of compliance further down the line. On new development, a key recent advancement comes in ingredient weighting, which is being upgraded with robotic ingredient handling systems. Using robotics in ingredients weighing not only ensures higher levels of accuracy, but also takes human employees away from potentially hygiene-averse areas, such as when working with powder-based ingredients that might be inhaled to cause respiratory problems. The latest technology also tends to incorporate vision and detection systems both to monitor the process but also provide the ability to trace back any problems. Traceability is key in today’s world, especially to avoid costly recalls or a brand being called into question. This goes hand in hand with checkweighing solutions as a final safety precaution, the last line of defence to ensure even weight, consistent measurements and reduce the risks of product recall. © stock.adobe.com/Of The V illage 34-37.qxp_Layout 1 17/12/2021 14:59 Page 438 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net BAKERY AND CONFECTIONARY If being pleasing to the eye has always been a prerogative of baked goods and confectionary products, the last decade has brought the importance of their aesthetics to a new level. The bakery and confectionary market has significantly changed over the last years and all people want now is to see gorgeous goodies, with bright colours that match their mood and tell them a story. Baked goods and confectionary products have always been synonyms of comfort, fun impulse buys and people have always been looking for that homemade look and feeling that reminded them of home and familiar things. Because of the new innovations When looks do matter Bakery and confectionary goods are not just about fun anymore, but they have become a journey through indulgence that has changed the industry completely. 38-41.qxp_Layout 1 17/12/2021 15:29 Page 1Food & Drink International 39 www.fdiforum.net BAKERY AND CONFECTIONARY in the industry, the new changes and trends in the market and people’s interest shifting towards healthier, naturally sourced and more sustainable products, the bakery and confectionery industry has changed radically. People don’t look for fun treats anymore, indulgence is not “being naughty” anymore, it has become a full journey that involves not just taste, but looks and feelings too, an experience that gives people connections with what they’re eating and tells them something about themselves. Colours are the main influential force behind all changes and trends. People are undoubtedly attracted to bright colours and peculiar designs, and the latest advances in colouring and decoration have created new customers’ demands and a new market. From rainbow cakes, galaxy doughnuts, cloud bread, the list is long and it gets longer every year; bakers and manufacturers around the world are constantly looking for new trends and new uses of colours that will make products more attractive and connect with consumers. The use of food colours has become so influential that companies and manufacturers have been studying and using the psychology behind colours to affect and influence consumers’ habits. Colours can alter how we perceive not just looks, but taste and flavours too; a specific colour can evoke specific emotions and memories that will affect the intensity of flavour and stimulate the appetite. Colours can connect a product to many things, like feelings but also moods and states of mind. For example, warmer colours, like red or yellow, will be connected to happy, cheerful thoughts and will make flavours taste stronger and more intense, while colder colours like blue and green will give people the perception of more natural and healthier ingredients, but they will also give people a sense of introspectiveness and quietness. However, if colours are important and the brighter the better, another element that has been influencing consumers’ behaviour is the provenience of food. After two years of lockdown and global pandemic, people have been showing more attention to what they eat and consume and they have shifted their focus on sustainable, naturally and locally sourced ingredients. Food colours are no exception and © stock.adobe.com/ LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS 40 Á 38-41.qxp_Layout 1 17/12/2021 15:29 Page 2Next >