If you asked industry professionals what food manufacturers are looking for to enhance their operations, it’s likely they would say a combination of increased productivity, increased efficiency, ease-of-use, and optimal sanitation. Those are certainly the most common customer requirements often directed at Alex Ortega, product manager for packaging systems at Heat and Control Inc.
“Those are key items that our customers are routinely coming to Heat and Control with, and these factors are key items of our major focus areas to enhance and optimize their operations,” Ortega says.
One way Heat and Control is positioning itself to help these companies with their packaging needs is through its partnership with Ishida, a leading global supplier of weighing and packaging equipment headquartered in Kyoto, Japan.
“It’s a special relationship where we have the capability to influence and direct developmental aspects when it comes to the equipment that Ishida builds,” Ortega says.
The two companies share more than 200 combined years of industry knowledge and experience. Heat and Control has been building equipment for the food industry for over 75 years, while Ishida was founded in 1893.
“Ishida is the inventor of the computer combination weigher: they are the originator. They developed a machine that was able to provide a big benefit to people,” Ortega says.
One of the ways the two companies are working to meet the needs of the industry is through Ishida’s new CCW AS line of multihead weigher systems.
As Ortega explains, the CCW acronym stands for “computer combination weigher,” which varies significantly from a standard weigher.
With the CCW, the machine has several hoppers attached to a loadcell, where each individual hopper can weigh the product, and the system finds a combined weight of those hoppers to calculate total weight.
“You’re looking for the best possible combination to provide the most accurate and reliable readings to meet the target weights that customers desire,” Ortega explains. “That was the inspiration behind the computer combination weigher.”
According to Ortega, the Ishida CCW-AS (Advantage Series) multihead weigher offers customers notable improvements from its previous models, increasing the capability of the machines.
“Ishida is constantly pressing and pushing the envelope,” Ortega states.
“We have increased capabilities with this weigher that were not available in previous generations,” he adds, noting that the latest generation offers customers improved ease-of-use and simpler sanitation requirements.
When it comes to the features that customers prioritize in their weighers, Ortega says it can vary depending on needs and application.
Says Ortega: “Some customers want a fast machine; some customers want the most accurate machine to reduce giveaway because the food items that they’re packing are expensive items; some customers focus more on reduction in labor... so it is very customer-specific.”
The big appeal of the CCW-AS multihead weigher is that customers don’t have to sacrifice any one of those priorities, Ortega points out, “because the weigher actually meets all of them".
“It provides those high speeds when you need them. It provides that great reliability, that reduced giveaway, the high accuracy and the repeatability,” he states. “That is something that Ishida prides itself on.”
Ishida also incorporates sanitation features into the design and build of all its computer combination weighers, so customers do not have to choose between production and food hygiene and safety.
The CCW-AS multihead weigher has been built with a redesigned human-machine interface (HMI) control panel that offers improved ease-of-use with a large 15.6-inch display.
“It’s a tablet-styled display, and that redesign is one of the biggest items that our customers really love about it,” Ortega says.
As for the so-called “smart” tools, the weigher is equipped with auto-setting adjustments, timing in the scales, and automatic feeder adjustments.
“Those are features that will help the operator on their daily routine tasks that they have to perform throughout a shift of production,” Ortega says.
These features are incorporated into the scale to reduce the need for them to interact with the equipment, since many operators may have other multiple tasks that they must perform regularly.
“It’s not just about standing in front of the machine and operating it,” Ortega says. “They’ve got other things that they must do to keep the entire line running, so those are some of the things that we have incorporated into the weigher to aid operators in running the production process more efficiently.”
The CCW-AS multihead weigher is offered with additional handy options, including the Optical Charge Control (OCC) that is linked to the unit’s auto- feeder.
While auto-feeder drive parameters are standard in the weigher, the unit’s OCC technology is able to monitor the level of product in each individual radial feeder, making adjustments based on of the level that it’s reading.
“It’s a much more rapid response, as far as the control of the feeders, and by constantly monitoring that level, it is helping to get the best accuracy and efficiency out of the weigher,” Ortega says.
With 22 years working at Heat and Control under his belt, Ortega has held a variety of positions at the company, including working in the service department.
As someone who spent years working on equipment, he has developed special appreciation for one particular new feature on the CCW-AS multihead weigher.
“Working on the scales, I know what it’s like to have to take off buckets and put them back on,” Ortega relates. “It was always a two-hand operation.
“That is something that takes a delicate approach, especially when you’re reassembling the weigher or putting the hoppers back on,” Ortega explains.
“The nice thing with the AS generation weigher is Ishida has made it much simpler to remove and reassemble the hoppers so that you can do it one-handed, which cuts down on your overall changeover time and your sanitation time.”
Ishida has also optimized the motor drive patterns in the weigher to reduce energy consumption, Ortega notes.
“On the open and close cycle of the hoppers being done by the stepper motors, they’ve been able to reduce the power consumption by as much as 20 percent,” he extols.
Ishida has also built an XR-7 feeder into the CCW-AS multihead weigher for assisting with the movement of tougher products such as fresh proteins, certain salads, and sticky gummies, which can be particularly challenging.
“Not only are they sticky, thus being difficult to convey, but they also absorb vibration, which makes them even more difficult to move,” Ortega says.
“Any product that involves moisture dampens that transferability of the vibration that you would typically get,” he adds.
“The great thing about the CCW-AS is that Ishida has been able to increase the amplitude on the radial feeders from three to four millimeters,” says Ortega, “which provides us much greater capability to convey those difficult-to-move products.”
For fresh proteins like chicken or beef, which would typically require an auger-styled screw feed machine, Ishida is now able to use its standard vibratory style radial feeders to move those products because of the greater amplitude.
“That has been a huge benefit with the CCW, providing that increased capability,” Ortega says.
Notably, Ishida has also been able to provide a 16.7 decibel reduction in the noise of the feeder itself.
“It’s a much quieter feeder, which obviously is going to improve your operation environment,” he says. “Noise is something that our customers are always concerned with.”
The unit is also equipped with an auto-timing feature that automatically adjusts the weigh hopper to pool the hopper ‘s open-close interval.
In the past, an employee would have to make this change manually, but thanks to the automatic settings, the scale calculates that timing as the product drops into each hopper—allowing operators to focus on other tasks.
To assist with servicing, Heat and Control offers remote diagnostics and troubleshooting and tailors service plans to customers’ needs.
“We’re able to be there every step of the way from troubleshooting and set-up to production assistance and training,” Ortega asserts.
“That is something of major importance to us and our customers,” Ortega says.
As Ortega relates, customers have responded very positively to the CCW-AS multihead weigher to date, citing the ease of use as one of its most popular features.
“Almost any person can walk up to the Ishida weigher and figure out how to operate it, because it’s not a complicated machine,” says Ortega.
“We have made it that simple,” he adds, also singling out redesigned drive unit’s more sanitary design as another key benefit.
“Food safety is a big item that our customers are concerned with,” Ortega states.
Incorporating the CCW-AS multihead weigher to an existing bagging or filling application is simple due to its common footprint.
“If you have an existing multihead weigher, the Ishida weigher is going to be similar in size and similar in footprint,” Ortega says, “and we also use common electrical interface standards.”
Noting that one of Heat and Control’s main themes is “Unequaled productivity provides solutions to workforce shortages,” Ortega says that this theme has been incorporated into all of the features of the CCW-AS multihead weigher system to enhancing production line efficiencies.
“By providing those solutions for the customers, we’re able to help them with workforce shortages,” Ortega proclaims.
“We have the equipment that is designed to make it easier to operate, more reliable, faster, and more accurate,” Ortega concludes.
“All of that helps answer our customers’ needs by making it one less thing for them to worry about.”
Story as appeared in Canadian Packaging magazine
