Dairy automation answers economic pressures

FlexLink, Krones and Elopak have worked together with Festo to provide the right answers to the demands for automation in dairies.

Because of its protein content, milk as a foodstuff can very quickly and easily spoil.

If handled incorrectly, milk can become unfit for consumption within hours and may even become poisonous.

It is thus vital for milk processing plants to be designed to high international hygiene standards in order to avoid chemical contamination and bacterial and fungal infestation.

Plant designers are, however, subject not only to technical demands but also increasingly to economic pressure.

Throughout the world, the large food companies that dominate the market are pushing prices down.

The result: dairies must automate their processes still further in order to cut costs.

FlexLink, Krones and Elopak have worked together with Festo to provide the right answers to the demands for automation, not only in dairies but also in bottling and canning plants for everything from soft drinks, mineral water, beer, wine, edible oils and other liquid foodstuffs.

The machines and components which these companies offer provide the highest possible level of protection against contamination in the food and splash zones.

FlexLink of Sweden uses conveyor systems to link individual stations within a filling process, for example to bring packaging materials to a filling machine or plastic and glass bottles to a labelling station.

The conveyor systems, with nonporous water-repellent stainless-steel surfaces, can be cleaned quickly and require no lubrication.

The shaped stainless-steel guide profiles create a linkage system that connects together modules without the need for any welding or laborious mechanical installation.

The return chain of the conveyor system runs within separate plastic trunking which protects it from product fragments or liquid leaks from the upper conveyor chain.

It is also possible to fit antibacterial plastic components to prevent the spread of infestations.

"In these conveyor and distributor systems, we use Festo ADVU compact cylinders as rotary and clamping stopper cylinders", says the General Manager of FlexLink Germany Peter Nauwerck.

"The compact cylinders are just as powerful as standard cylinders but take up only half as much space".

"Among the other Festo components used for the pneumatic automation of the systems are CPV valve terminals, controlled via AS Interface, and D-series service units, which means we can be sure of total pneumatic compatibility and are able to obtain everything we need from a single source".

The system supplier Krones offers solutions for the actual filling process in dairies.

The range of products involved includes everything from skimmed milk, drinking yoghurt and cream to mixed milk drinks containing fruit and grain.

Krones filling machines place the dairy products in plastic containers (PET, HDPE) of different shapes and sizes and also glass containers.

This supplier covers all the central steps in the filling process, from blow moulding of PET bottles, rinsing and filling with dairy products through to sealing and labelling.

Aseptic filling plants are today's state of the art.

The filling and sealing machines feature a "hygienic design" with easy-to-clean inclined surfaces and the options of gutters to catch product residues and automatic CIP spray cleaning and disinfection of external surfaces.

For the pneumatic automation of its systems, Krones relies on the well-proven products offered by Festo.

Stainless-steel cabinets house CPV valve terminals controlled via AS Interface.

"This means that our systems remain highly flexible with regard to future expansion", explains Dr Albrecht Hoene, Head of Component Development at Krones.

"The easy-to-use AS Interface bus system and Festo's compact CPV valve terminals are the ideal way implementing Krones' modular concept".

The valve terminals are equipped with a special multiple-connection subbase made of POM.

This is used to couple all the necessary tubing connections out of the control cabinet.

The tubing connections for the drives are made via ready-installed stainless-steel fittings, thus meeting the stringent requirements of the food industry.

The labelling machine, too, shows how Festo has met the individual wishes of this system supplier from Bavaria.

Festo as an automation supplier provides Krones with service units and pneumatic modules as turnkey units - fully tested, and with a guarantee and documentation.

This means less work for Krones' in-house planning, purchasing and production personnel and means that the company has only one order, one delivery date and one supplier to deal with.

All that Krones needs to do is bolt the mounting plates and service units into position and make the tubing connections for the actuators - in other words, simply "plug and work".

Once the packs have been filled, the filling process is completed by the conveyor systems supplied by the Materials Handling division of Elopak, which is located in Finland and Norway.

Within a wheeled container packing system, the filled packs are first grouped together and then loaded onto the individual levels of a container.

A grouping unit is used to transport the wheeled containers via transfer vehicles onto the storage tracks of a cold store.

A short time later, they will be on display in the refrigerated cabinets of supermarkets and grocers' shops.

Elopak makes aseptic filling machines and also installs wheeled-container washing machines and lifters which return empty wheeled containers to the packing process.

As all the associated machinery is located in splash zones, where hygiene requirements are very stringent, the system designers have relied on Festo's "Clean Design" product line of valve terminals and cylinders.

With completely smooth corrosion-resistant surfaces, these products are very easy to clean.

Their connections have no exposed threads, and all components have large radii, without sharp corners, edges or cavities.

This eliminates many possible hazards which could otherwise result from bacteria, chemicals or corrosion particles.

The "Clean Design" valve terminals are the ideal choice for wet environments, offering the high degrees of protection IP67 and IP69K.

They are able to operate without the protection of stainless-steel control cabinets.

This means that they can be mounted directly on machines, even in hygienically critical applications.

The practical result: space saved in the control cabinet.

"The ideal equipment for filling processes", confirms Lauri Nurminen, Sales Manager of Elopak Materials Handling.

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