Food & Drink Processing & Packaging Issue 49 2023 | Page 5

In April 2022 , 21 per cent of businesses surveyed by the UK ’ s Office for National Statistics ( ONS ) said that energy prices were their main concern .
Acquisition ( SCADA ) systems to control , monitor and visualise the information . Scheme controls can be integrated into existing systems , and controlled from a central SCADA location through easy-touse Human Machine Interfaces ( HMIs ).
But how can manufacturers achieve costs savings and an improved ROI through control schemes ? This is where the partnership of a trusted materials handling expert is essential . A partner can review the sequential and functional needs of materials management on the customer ’ s production line , and plan how to optimise these processes in order to best serve the plant ’ s KPIs .
The right calculations
Let ’ s look at food conveying systems as an example . Conveyors , whether they are floor-mounted or overhead , must transport produce safely , carefully and efficiently between the various machines on a production line — from the weighers and processing machinery , all the way to the packing line .
The first questions that Gough Engineering asks its customers at the start of a project are : “ What type of material are you transporting ?” and “ What product throughput rate do you need to achieve with this conveying system ?” For the latter , the customer will respond with a figure of tonnes or kilograms per hour . Gough Engineering ’ s specialists then establish further clarification of volume rates , bulk densities , transfer lengths and orientations , feed points , distribution points , and can then prescribe a suitable solution .
Bucket elevators are often overlooked when considering material transportation , but they can be a more suitable option than linear conveyors . This is particularly important for transporting dry bulk materials , ingredients and part-completed products . A materials handling expert can provide you with guidance on what ’ s best for you , based on your specific material .
To determine the best elevator design to convey a product , we must consider three factors . First , bucket capacity , which refers to the volume of product that can be held in each bucket . Every bucket is filled to a specific per cent of its overall capacity , to ensure that all of the product is retained — doesn ’ t spill over the edges — during transport .
The second factor is bucket pitch . For instance , when the bucket elevator system is mounted between two parallel chains , correct buck pitch means determining the correct distance between the centres of each bucket .
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