Poetry in motion

NGF talks to Belt Technologies’ Brian Harbison and the Wire Belt Company’s Ray Tomsett about the role of advanced processing technologies in keeping things moving, maintaining profitability and keeping standards high.

“Automation is vital to improving profitability and quality”
-Brian Harbison

Increasingly stringent levels of regulation are a constant reality for the food industry. How can packaging and processing technology help producers to meet the necessary standards?
Brian Harbison. All processes have variables that need to be controlled within an acknowledged set of specifications. Within the food industry, stringent levels of regulation set specifications to maintain the health and well being of the consumers of the food products. However, traditional conveyor types, which might employ chains, plastic and PU belts, are still being used despite the risk of contaminants entering the food chain. The food industry has continually looked to automation to control the process variables within the regulated limits. Belt Technologies is a leader in solving automation problems across all industries including the food industry. The use of the steel belt provides the food industry machine designer a reliable method to consistently control process variables within a tight range that ensures product quality to meet these ongoing requirements.

Ray Tomsett. As a provider of processing belting and conveyors to the food industry Wire Belt constantly monitors and evaluates its product against the current and incoming regulations. We have worked with test sites and universities in the UK and the USA to measure the hygienic credentials of the product so that we can provide the best advice to our customers. To help us comply with the BRC and Materials in Contact with Food requirements we use our ISO9001 procedures to ensure traceability so that the appropriate level of certification required by our customers is provided to support their needs, including USDA approval certification for the majority of our belting products.

In an increasingly competitive market, improving and maintaining profitability is extremely important. What role can reliable and advanced processing technology play in this?
RT. The increasing levels of regulation are adding to the cost of capital equipment due to additional performance and administration requirements. It is possible to produce a conveyor that complies with the most stringent hygienic standard but customers would not be prepared to pay the cost unless it was for a very high-risk process. Suppliers have to provide a solution that is relevant to the customer's process, complies with the current and appropriate interpretation of the standards and is cost effective. Wire Belt has worked to reduce the capital cost of its conveyors by simplifying and reducing the number of parts and this in turn reduces the customer's ongoing maintenance and cleaning costs. As the majority of short belt life problems and belting failures stem from incorrect set up and poor maintenance, we also help our customers reduce cost by providing advice and training.

BH. Automation is vital to improving profitability and quality. The steel belt has proven itself to increase productivity across all industries, including food processing. The key characteristic of the steel belt that makes it a leader in advanced processing technology is its ability to be customised for harsh environments seen in the food industry. The steel belt is well suited for elevated and/or freezing temperatures, will not absorb bacteria and can be cleaned with chemical or ozone processes. Most alternate solutions to automating food processing cannot stand up to these difficult environmental parameters in the same cost effective manner.

How important is it that flexibility is built into a conveyor solution from the beginning? How is it possible to ensure that technology can adapt in line with the user's needs?
BH. It is best to know the range of product the customer will be conveying so flexibility can be designed into the conveyor. A steel belt conveyer has the ability to operate over a wide range of parameters, whether that be temperatures, speeds, loads, or chemical resistance. Knowing these parameters or the range of parameters helps the designer identify the most cost effective materials and mechanical components or apply unique coatings to the belt surface to meet the end user's requirements.

RT. Capital equipment used in food processing is expensive primarily due to the materials and quality of workmanship required. It is therefore extremely important that the equipment is flexible, can be reused or reconfigured. Wire Belt has traditionally manufactured conveyor units that the customer can reuse in new processes. More frequently, customers are running batches of more than one product through a process onto a conveyor and require the conveyor to have a set up provision to easily redirect the product to a different zone or line. The technology to provide automated and intelligent conveying systems already exists and it is possible to interface a conveyor that responds to the processing machine commands. However, our experience is that customers rarely require this level of sophistication.

Sanitation, hygienic standards and reducing downtime – while improving line efficiency – have caused many companies to upgrade their conveyor lines. What measures has your company taken to meet these ever changing demands?
RT. The majority of conveyors supplied by Wire Belt use Flat-Flex style stainless steel wire belting that is hygienically superior and more easily cleaned than other styles of metal and plastic conveyor belts. The only factor driving the use of less hygienic belting has been durability. Therefore over recent years Wire Belt has invested heavily to improve the quality of standard wire belting and doubling the life expectancy. We have added stronger belts to our range with the XT and Compact Grid products while retaining the superior hygienic qualities of wire belts. To help customers benefit from the ease of cleaning, longer life and reduced downtime we have improved the level of our customer support, advice and training.

BH. Material offerings have enhanced not only downtime but hygiene and sanitary properties. With the multitude of alloys available, Belt Technologies can tailor the belting to meet almost all sanitary requirements in a food processing application. Combine this with our ability to apply wear resistant and non-stick coatings to the belt surface, process line efficiency improves significantly against competing technologies.

The panel

Brian Harbison is the International Business Manager with Belt Technologies Europe, subsidiary of Belt Technologies Inc. in the USA. He has attended and exhibited at many prominent European Food shows such as AnugaFoodtec and Interpack, witnessing  a massive growth in demand for steel belt use in Food packaging and processing applications.

Ray Tomsett joined the Wire Belt Company in 1995 as Technical Manager and is responsible for all technical, quality and engineering functions. Previously he worked as Chief Engineer and Engineering Manager for a company specialising in engineering solutions and bespoke special purpose machinery.