Weighing cheese, candy and more

THE multihead weighers from Ishida ensure not only greater speed but more importantly, increased accuracy in handling and packaging products, altogether delivering higher efficiency and productivity. They are designed to suit different product types, sizes, and attributes such as movement resistance, making them ideal for difficult-to-handle items such as cheese and candy. Their simple and compact design allows for easy fit into different production line layouts.

One company that has benefitted from using Ishida multihead weighers is Prima Cheese, one of the largest independent cheese suppliers in the UK.

The company based in Seaham, County Durham is in fact installing a third Ishida multihead weigher to handle its range of cheese products, which the firm supplies to wholesale food and catering businesses worldwide. The 14-head weigher will join two existing 10-head versions. The machines will handle a variety of bag sizes, including 1kg, 1.8kg, 2kg, and 5kg as well as smaller sample packs. With the addition of the third multihead weigher, Prima Cheese will have the capacity to pack about 30,000 boxes of products each week. 

The new CCW-RS-214 is designed to handle sticky products. It is equipped with special electrostatic polished surfaces that enable the cheese to move quickly and easily through the weigher, which maximizes throughput.

The first Ishida weigher, which Prima Cheese installed in 2008, contributed in enhancing the company’s operations in terms of increases in speed, weighing accuracy, and efficiency, which in turn contribute to continuing success and growth.

The CCW-RS-214 feeder at work at Prima Cheese

The company’s current Ishida weighers can handle 2kg packs at 25 bags per minute as opposed to about 9 bags per minute with a linear system. The new 14-head model can increase this speed, but the firm prefers to maintain a manageable speed that keeps the production line running constantly.

Prima Cheese Operations director Nima Beni acknowledges the reliability of the Ishida weighers.

“Typically the only downtime we experience is when we need to change the film and this only takes around three minutes,” said Beni.

In addition to equipment reliability, Ishida weighers offer the benefit of practicality. 

“Their hygienic design is very easy to clean and that is a vital consideration for a dairy product. The weighers are also simple to operate with changeovers between pack sizes undertaken at literally the touch of a button,” Beni added.

Noting the advantages of Ishida weighers, Beni said: “When it comes to weighing equipment we won’t have anything else. The Ishidas do exactly what is required of them – and just as important, we receive excellent service and support from the team at Ishida.” 

Prima Cheese, which was established in 1996, caters to customers in the UK and Europe. Its worldwide market also covers Dubai and the UAE, Peru, Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan, Taiwan, and Singapore. 

The installation of the CCW-RS-214 is part of the company’s next phase of growth. The firm is looking to expand its manufacturing facility to incorporate bigger production and storage areas, and new offices.

Confectionery weighing

Ishida’s weighing technology is likewise a critical factor in boosting production efficiency in Anis de Flavigny, one of Europe’s most treasured confectionery icons.

The company has installed a linear Ishida multihead weigher to achieve modern speed and accuracy in packing its 400-year-old traditional aniseed sweet. The candy, which was mentioned in a 1591 manuscript but is probably much older, has been made at Flavigny-sur-Ozerain in France for hundreds of years. It is produced by gradually building up a coating of sugar, often flavored with essential oils, around a single grain of anise. The outer layers of the aniseed sweet can be chipped off by rough treatment, which can then spoil the smoothness of the candy, which is meant to be sucked instead of bitten into.

Les Anis de Flavigny bonbons go through radial feeders

The new packing line from Ishida enables the company to handle the introduction of a smaller piece size, known as ‘Petits Anis,’ in a new 18g pocket-sized carton. The line incorporates an Ishida CCW-R-106PL linear multihead weigher mounted above a cartoning machine and has a cellophane wrapping machine downstream.

The weigher’s linear layout keeps the drop distance to within 150mm. A bancollan lining in the discharge chute provides further protection for the product.

The shallow linear configuration of the machine ensures better flow control for products such as spherical hard confectionery that tend to bounce and roll. This helps prevent ‘escapes’ during weighing and improves accuracy.

The 6-head CW-R-106PL boasts an accuracy similar to a 12-head weigher, with each of its pool hopper feeding two weigh hoppers. It delivers 99% efficiency. The compact equipment sits on a simple but robust gantry and features a dust- and draught-proof outer casing with observation windows.

Anis de Flavigny noted the 18g packs, which are really convenient to carry, have become popular among customers. The company is now also marketing its full-sized sweets in this pack format.

Catherine Troubat, which took over the direction of Les Anis de Flavigny from her father in 1990, is very pleased that the new Ishida linear multihead weigher handles the original 1g sweets just as successfully as it does the Petits Anis. Troubat has implemented improvements in manufacturing, marketing, and distribution while fully maintaining the integrity and traditions of the product. The efforts have enabled the company to boost production to 220 tons per year and turnover to €3.9 million.