Directionless finishing crucial for packaging machine manufacturer

GEA Food Solutions, based in Weert, has specialized in the production of machines for bagging food products, and lollipop machines - both to make them, and to pack them. A directionless finish is desired for these packaging machines.

An engineer from GEA Food Solutions is fine-tuning a lollipop packaging machine. The machine shoots packed lollipops into a collection tray at a high rate, while the machine is still running at only a fraction of its capacity. It could be much faster. "We make between 800 and 1,400 lollipops per minute," explains Allard Van Haaften. He is responsible for supply chain & operations at the packaging machine manufacturer. "That number depends on the shape and size of the lollipops."

Easy to clean

GEA is one of the world's leading suppliers of machinery and systems for food processing technology and related industries. How do they produce the machines in Weert? The base consists partly of stainless steel sheet metal. After sheets have gone through the laser cutting machines, they are further processed in a Timesavers 32 RB series. This is a compact, dry wide belt sander for deburring, edge rounding, finishing and/or laser oxide removal. "The machines we make are largely stainless steel and anodized aluminum, because it's important to be able to clean them properly. You don't want residue from a machine ending up in a food product. Parts have to be properly flat, fully deburred."

Choice

Van Haaften explains why the choice fell on the 32 RB series: "We mainly looked for a machine that would allow us to finish as smoothly as possible. Products coming out of the laser cutter are tapped - when necessary - and finished in the Timesavers machine. The finished products come through the belt onto a return table. This adds a lot of value because it allows us to ensure that the machine is usable by many people working around the machine. Further down the assembly line, the machines are assembled into full-fledged food packaging systems."

Directionless

Van Haaften emphasizes the importance of directionless finishing. "If you finish the sheet metal directionless, it doesn't matter how you place the sheets in the Timesaver. Also, you don't want deep surface scratches, because this makes the plate dirty faster and harder to clean. This is a no-go in the food industry."

Meeting the needs

GEA Food Solutions has now been using the Timesavers 32 RB series for a year.

 "Together with Timesavers, we investigated how we could replace the existing machine with one that could both finish directionless and machine very small parts. Then we visited the factory with lasered parts and conducted tests: how fast does the machine run? What grain size should we choose? With the help of Timesavers, we chose what suits us best." 

Especially in the area of brush selection and brush pressure, Timesavers' expertise was very helpful; GEA is an expert in packaging machinery, among other things, but not in deburring. 

"We make a lot of single pieces, which leads to a lot of variation. At the same time, we want to use the same settings as much as possible. The sheets we process are usually between 1 and 3 mm thick. Sometimes we have pieces of 5 millimeters. Normally for finishing we just use the brushes and very occasionally a pre-grinding belt. You only need the pre-grinding belt if you need to get rid of a big burr. But rather not, because a grinding belt makes streaks anyway. And for us there is no discussion: we want directionless." ■