Italian nut supplier cuts waste with new machine
The new Ishida multihead weigher and bagmaker combination at Madi Ventura’s factory in Chieve, which was supplied by Ishida’s Italian agent, Itech Italia, has replaced two packing lines for the company’s ranges of pine kernels, shelled and blanched almonds, hazel nuts and walnuts, delivering speeds of up to 140 packs per minute for pillow bags in 50g, 75g and 100g sizes.
The Ishida iTPS comprises a 14-head RV multihead weigher, integrated with the company’s Atlas-204 snack food bagmaker. The Atlas incorporates an innovative double rotary jaw motion with better control, which minimizes raw material waste, film loss and downtime for film changes.
Key benefits of the Ishida system, according to Madi Ventura, are its accuracy, consistency and ease of operation.
Dried fruit and nut products are expensive, so accuracy is particularly vital, all the more so with items such as almonds and walnuts where the piece weight of each nut can be high (as much as 3g for a walnut). “Giveaway has been reduced to less than 1%,” reports Madi Ventura’s operations director Giuseppe Calvini.
“We have practically eliminated film waste,” says Mr Calvini. “The Ishida simply stops when the film needs changing. With other machines, if the operator does not spot the need for a film change, then valuable product can be lost; however, this means that inevitably the machine is stopped early, which over the course of a production run can lead to a lot of good film going to waste.”
According to Mr Calvini its reliable operation, and reduced manpower requirements add up to increased efficiency, which amounts to important cost savings given that during the course of one day, the line is capable of producing up to 88,000 packs.
“Naturally we looked at alternative systems for this line, and Ishida was certainly not the cheapest option that we considered,” says Mr Calvini. “However, when you take into account the overall savings the iTPS offers and the increased production that it delivers, the purchase price is more than justified by the fast payback.”
Theo de Koning
Ishida Europe
De Dieze 5
NL 5684 PR BEST
Tel +31 4993 93675
Theo.dekoning@ishidaeurope.com