< Previous30 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net FLOW MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL through a magnetic field is proportional to the velocity of that conductor. It’s worth pointing out that these meters only work for liquids and slurries that conduct electricity. Electromagnetic meters have been used in industries for more than sixty years and it’s easy to see why they remain a mainstay, especially in the processing of wastewater and in the food industry. The measuring principle is virtually independent of pressure, density, temperature and viscosity, providing a simple and efficient solution. Part of its popularity is, undoubtedly, down to its versatility, as it can meter liquids as well as those with entrained solids such as slurry and pulp. Ranging from basic applications to high demand, there’s an electromagnetic flow meter suited from small batch producers to major manufacturers with multiple production lines. And with no moving parts, they’re also maintenance free, reducing downtime. It will still need to be cleaned to reduce the risk of contaminating through product, however. Ultrasonic flow meters offer a non- invasive solution which come in two types – transit time and doppler. Whichever is required, both feature clamp on designs that can detect in- situ flow rates from outside of the pipework without needing to interrupt flow or process. As they can be easily integrated into a product line there’s no downtime or disruption, making them a popular choice among manufacturers. There are, of course, inline ultrasonic meters which are fixed in place and incorporated into the production line. These will need to be installed and require a larger investment, but the bonus is that they offer greater accuracy. These meters work by using soundwaves to determine velocity of a fluid in a pipe offering a high degree of accuracy all round as well as being able to handle extreme temperatures. But they do have several drawbacks, namely cost as they can be quite costly. Because of the way in which these meters function, they are sensitive to stray process vibrations which can result in inaccuracies in the reading. As they use ultrasonic waves, they are limited to what they can meter as materials such as slurries are denser than liquids and so ultrasonic waves cannot easily pass through them or, in some cases, cannot pass through at all. Whereas electromagnetic flow © Shutterstock /MOLPIX 28-31.qxp_Layout 1 28/05/2020 12:39 Page 3Food & Drink International 31 www.fdiforum.net FLOW MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL meters are ideally suited to low flow, turbine meters are purposefully designed for higher flow metering. They contain bladed rotors positioned along the centreline of the flow stream. The rotating component produces a pulse when passing either a magnetic or © Shutterstock /Syda Productions SICK extends flow sensors portfolio with T-Easic® Thermal Flow Switch SICK has extended its portfolio of industrial instruments with the SICK T-Easic® FTS, a thermal flow switch designed as an easy, cost-saving answer to detecting liquid flow in pipes. Combining both flow and temperature measurement in one IO-Link enabled sensor, the SICK T-Easic® is available in a choice of IP67 industrial or IP69 hygienic stainless-steel versions. Ideal for use with water or oil- based liquids, the T-Easic® can be set up to work with almost any media and is suitable for use with process temperatures between -40°C and 150°C and pressures up to 100 bar. It is therefore a versatile instrument that can be put to work for flow monitoring in CIP and SIP systems, or for run protection of pumps. With probe lengths of 60mm, 100mm and 200mm, the SICK T-Easic® can be inserted in pipes from 25mm right up to 400mm in diameter. For more information, visit www.sick.co.uk. optical sensor, a frequency that is proportional to velocity of fluid. The biggest advantage here is the high degree of accuracy, the millisecond response time and, as already stated, the high pressure capabilities. But moving parts can become worn and clogged requiring maintenance, repairs or even replacements. Flow meters are crucial right across the supply chain so finding the right one is absolutely imperative. Nothing a quality supplier can’t guide you through. 28-31.qxp_Layout 1 28/05/2020 12:39 Page 4WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION 32 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net Distribution plays a key role in the efficiency of any company, pushing its products into the hands of customers and making them available to the wider market, even more so since COVID-19 and what people are already terming ‘The Great Lockdown’. A poor or inefficient distribution system can have devastating consequences for the day to day running of a company, along with their ability to complete the terms of a customer’s contract. With the balance between minimising costs and maximising throughput, isolating and identifying factors that cause delays or problems becomes increasingly important. The human element remains both a warehouse’s greatest strength and its greatest weakness. Adaptable, flexible and skilled workers can help shore up any gaps or changes in daily operations, but mistakes caused by human error and potential downtime can drag down efficiency as well. In the same vein of thought, contagion and disease can impact a workforce, especially in contagious circumstances such as those the world faces today. Some argue towards full automation as a solution to this, as a way to improve productivity. Workers will always be ruled by the physical limitations of the human body, while machines do not suffer the same fatigue. An automated system can continue running for twenty four hours a day, without the need for changing teams, shifts and breaks. For food and drink retailers who operate online stores and delivery, this enables companies to have more flexible cut-off times for deliveries, improving customer relations and perhaps even making them a more attractive choice for consumers. What holds companies back from adopting such a scheme is often the financial implications. A fully automated warehouse system requires not only specialist machinery and software, but also a lot of planning and preparation. For existing warehouses it might mean alteration, or removal of all existing systems, which would lead to a lot of wastage. While for new builds, there is already such high investment being utilised for distribution centres that adding another facet to the mix in what is already a tough economic climate, simply isn’t desirable. Return on investment tends to be a little slower with fully automated systems, despite high labour costs. For many full automation is simply not feasible, and the question quickly becomes how to improve the efficiency of what is already in place. Materials handling is one such area in which efficiency can be traditionally improved. It is no secret that handling materials in a cut-and-thrust environment can cause serious injury, or worse. Safety is paramount in any business setting, and injury cases can be incredibly costly. Speed and efficiency are often mistaken for the same thing, and while COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of a streamlined warehouse and distribution centre, but how does one go about identifying flashpoints? Optimising warehouses 32-35.qxp_Layout 1 28/05/2020 12:41 Page 1Food & Drink International 33 www.fdiforum.net it’s forgivable for a worker to attempt to fulfil an order by using a little extra haste, there can be risks involved, not only to personal safety, but also the operations of the warehouse. True efficiency is an improvement that comes about regardless of the individual effort involved. It is a passive component in many cases, one that will work as effectively for one employee as it will for another. Assuming the process is followed correctly, of course. Forklifts, for instance, are a staple of the materials handling industry, with almost every warehouse or distribution centre in the country operating a few at least. What can cause confusion however is the wide array of forklifts available on the market, and what roles 34 Á © Shutterstock /wavebreakmedia © Shutterstock /Dmitry Kalinovsky 32-35.qxp_Layout 1 28/05/2020 12:41 Page 234 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION Unrivalled performance from FlexiEdge fast-action doors The FlexiEdge range of fast-action doors includes internal and external doors, all- weather doors, cleanroom and freezer/coldroom doors plus emergency exit doors. Standard models are available in widths up to 11 metres and heights of 5.5 metres whilst bespoke sizes may be specified. All FlexiEdge doors are manufactured from top quality materials including galvanised steel for structural strength allied to reinforced polyethylene side guides. A hi-tech manufacturing process involves the insertion of reinforced polyester within a PVC sandwich to produce a high strength yet lightweight door curtain. These curtains are available in a wide range of standard RAL colours and various style options including vision panels and windows, translucent curtains, insulated versions for chiller/freezer applications and fly screen curtains. The incorporation of an infra-red photocell, fitted 300mm above floor level, supported by a bottom edge wireless detector ensures instant halting of all door movement in the event of sensing an obstruction. For more information, visit www.stertil-dockproducts.co.uk. they might best be suitable towards. Industrial reach forklifts are best suited to taller racking systems, very common within the food and drink industry due to the sheer quantity of stock that is kept in a warehouse, often necessitating that operators stack their products tall as well as wide. If your warehouse has unusually thin aisles, possibly because of even higher levels of stock, then a 3- wheel forklift can offer more manoeuvrability, allowing it to operate in these thinner aisles. What a company needs can depend on a hundred different factors, from the width of the aisles, the height of the stacking, weight of palletised goods – or even how far back on a rack they are stacked. It is therefore necessary not to simply go for what is the cheapest option, but instead to ask what will generate the greatest efficiency for the facility as a whole. One obstacle to efficiency can often be locating and accessing products within the warehouse when they need to be shipped out. While most products of a particular brand or batch will likely be stored with each other, the individual size of the packaging can vary greatly. Pallet-wrapping machines can help maximise on this, by safely ensuring a wider range of boxes can be stored together on a single pallet. This also provides added safety to the products if they need to be stored at height, as there is no risk of individual packages being knocked loose. Even when it comes to these machines though, there is a staggering amount of options available on the market, with varying prices and options. Software, specifically Supply Chain Management Software, can also help in 32-35.qxp_Layout 1 28/05/2020 12:41 Page 3Food & Drink International 35 www.fdiforum.net WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION this regard, especially with accurate summation of stock incoming and outgoing, but also where it is stored and what employees will be available at the time that it is required to be shifted. As always the focus is on efficiency, with a view to reducing costs through minimising on mistakes a more traditional system might make. Removing the human element where possible can help to not only ensure that all data is correct and accurate, but that there are no unnecessary paper trails to try and work through. Automation is king, both on the production line – and when it comes to software packages. Any delays at the distribution part of the supply chain, especially if caused by not having the correct SCM in place can be catastrophic, as it is distribution centres which commonly deal with directly with the final client – introducing that age-old risk of failing to satisfy and thus losing a key contract. With the food and drink retail market dominated by a few very powerful retailers, manufacturers can ill- afford to suffer any lost confidence with these major clients. © Shutterstock /TT studio 32-35.qxp_Layout 1 28/05/2020 12:41 Page 436 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net PROCESSING Getting the process right Getting the process right 36-41.qxp_Layout 1 01/06/2020 11:37 Page 1Food & Drink International 37 www.fdiforum.net PROCESSING Never has there been a time when maintaining a high standard was so important. COVID-19 has played havoc with the world’s food industry, with distribution hit the worst but manufacturing still facing challenges. Costs need to be kept down at every stage as new products and production methods are introduced, and as lockdown grips markets. At the same time, care must be taken to ensure employee safety, as contagion can paralyse a factory. In many cases, this will require the highest degree of operational discipline, excellent interdepartmental communication, far greater awareness of issues and current production status, together with automation, wherever possible, to minimise the risk of operator error. All responsible manufacturers will have carried out in depth risk assessments, and realised how easy it is, within such high pressure environments, to get something wrong. Errors in component handling, out of date ingredients, coding and labelling errors, compromised pack seals and inaccurate weights are just a few things which negatively impact delivery schedules and the bottom line in food manufacturing environments where short batch runs and frequent product changeovers have become the norm. One obvious benefit of the rise of automation in the processing sector is the ability to ensure complete accuracy. That’s absolutely vital with increasingly stringent regulations on labelling – not to mention the huge expense that can be engendered by excessive product giveaway. This has in turn led to an increase in the levels of traceability present within the manufacturing and supply chain – with companies able to find out exactly who the suppliers were of any ingredients used in a given batch of completed products – within a few hours. Accurate traceability enables retailers and manufacturers to find out where faulty produce came from, and where it was delivered to. Due to the damage such scandals can cause to the reputations of companies, such as Findus and the supermarkets who suffered at the time, many retailers now demand stringent traceability Process equipment can be complicated at the best of times, not only from the sheer amount available but also just how much of a factory it can cover. 38 Á © Shutterstock /grafvision 36-41.qxp_Layout 1 01/06/2020 11:37 Page 2system. Methods of transition between individual pieces of equipment must be considered as well. These are just as important, and perhaps even more so, than any other piece of machinery. Whether a company makes use of pumping systems in fluid and viscous food material or conveyors and separators for more solid foods, these can be potential flashpoints for problems within a process line as they 38 Food & Drink International www.fdiforum.net PROCESSING HOSE, VALVE & COUPLING SOLUTIONS • • • • •• dixoneurope.co.uk+44 (0)1772 323529 methods to be in place. An automated and perhaps more importantly – monitored – line can help in this regard. When it comes to a process line, there is more to talk about than automation as a wholesale term. Individual aspects of a line can be just as important and need to be considered on their own merits and terms, seeing how those can then incorporate into a larger system. In a sense it is comparable to car in that one would not spend all of their budget on the engine and forget to include and suspension. Naturally this can be a daunting task and also different depending on what a company manufactures. Mixers can be a fairly ubiquitous example within the industry and one that sees much in the way of advancement. Integral in specific food products and necessary in many more, mixers can be big sources of downtime within a process line if they are not up to standard. Food deposits can build up producing not only an impediment to efficiency but also a risk to hygiene within future products. This can then spread to pump and fluid systems causing further problems. Naturally this is a known issue and one that manufacturers of mixing systems have been working on minimising and yet a food producer would not be able to reap the benefits of such if they do not look at what changes are available and simply stick with an outdated piece of equipment. It can be difficult to extrapolate results, particularly in an automated line, from a single piece of equipment – which can be both a real issue and a simple excuse for many. In most cases it is better to ask if a trail can take place within a factory, often using your own products as test material. This way the results can be monitored first hand and then estimated across the entire SPX FLOW launch new valve for US dairy market SPX FLOW has launched a new valve within its D4 Series double seat mix proof portfolio. The new Waukesha Cherry-Burrell D4PMO valve is designed specifically for the US dairy market in line with the latest 3-A sanitary standard 85-02 for Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO). The D4 Series took SPX FLOW mix proof valve technology into a new generation. The valves, which launched in 2018, are now well proven in processes across the beverage, brewery, food, dairy, personal care, and other sanitary applications around the world. They offer reliable separation of dissimilar products during continuous processing, with assured separation of clean-in-place (CIP) fluids. The D4PMO is based on the already proven design of the core D4 mix proof range with additional features to meet PMO standards, such as maintaining zero pressure within the vent cavity and the impingement of CIP fluid during seat lift operation. 36-41.qxp_Layout 1 01/06/2020 11:37 Page 340 Á Food & Drink International 39 www.fdiforum.net PROCESSING mark the movement of material from one system to another. Ensuring that your transition equipment is up to date and well-maintained is integral and should be of the highest priority. There is a tendency when something goes wrong to check the larger machinery, but as it is the pumps themselves which see the greatest amount of use, and these should always be a focus point. High quality pumps certainly assist companies in dealing with delicate ingredients in large quantities – but how can they be assured that product build-up isn’t happening to too great an extent? Many manufacturers are © Shutterstock /branislavpudar Best ever first quarter for GIC A packaging machinery company has reported its best- ever first quarter. GIC, which designs and manufactures vertical form fill and seal machines, has seen orders more than double year on year and reported its best-ever first quarter. The Lincolnshire-based company currently has 30 machines in build. Two new employees have been recruited, and GIC has invested more than £30,000 in its factory, adding a new mezzanine floor, increasing its production area by 90 square metres. “Despite the awful situation with the pandemic, we have seen enquiries and orders reach record levels,” says Andy Beal, co-director with Luke Murphy. “We have won several prestigious, high-value contracts from both new and repeat customers. I think we are seeing the rewards from a lot of hard work from our sales team and also increased investment in marketing to get our name out there a bit more… Hopefully, the rest of 2020 will continue in the same vein.” (L-R) Luke Murphy & Andy Beale 36-41.qxp_Layout 1 01/06/2020 11:37 Page 4Next >