A 12-head Fresh Food Weigher from Ishida Europe has enabled leading Belgian delicatessen producer Deldiche to handle a huge range of different products on a machine.
To keep products fresh with fast turn over, Deldiche experiences short production runs and the need to get orders out as quickly as possible.
To automate the packing process with various products and handling characteristics, the processor selected the Ishida CCW-M-112, which comprises 12 linear belts that feed the hoppers of the multihead weigher.
An operator positioned in front of the belts can direct and control the flow of products to the hoppers.
The weigher’s 12-belt feeders and 12 sets of hoppers allow Deldiche to fill two packs simultaneously to double packing speeds.
The machine can also mix two products into the same pack, with software to ensure that the overall target weight is always met.
The weigher handles sticky products such as mixed olives, mixed peppers, African Salad (a mix of chickpeas, pumpkin, carrots and fresh herbs) and Tzay with belt feeders which, unlike radial feeders, do not rely on vibration to move the product.
All hoppers feature a plastic surface, which also improves the handling of sticky items, while a ribbed finish inside the hoppers and the use of scraper gates facilitates product discharge.
The most common packs are 150 g and 200 g pots but the weigher can also pack formats of up to 10 kg into buckets.
For the weighing of products into the pots, special dipping funnels are lowered inside the pots to ensure a spillage-free transfer of product.
The weigher also packs products at least 30 packs per minute.
