Gericke Ltd, the UK arm of the Swiss parent company, recently supplied a fully automated and accurate batch mixing and continuous weighing plant for production of cereal bars at the Tollcross, Glasgow, plant of confectionery manufacturer McVities. The need to install a flexible processing facility to handle various differing recipe types and also have the ability to increase and decrease the throughput to match packaging rates demanded an innovative approach.

Gentle handling of the ingredients and hygiene were key factors. With the need for many recipe changes over a short period, the equipment employed had to be suitable for complete and fast cleaning between campaigns. Production of high quality added value confectionery products with varying recipes is a complex process which demands weighing tolerances of the highest accuracy, especially for minor ingredients. Extensive pilot trials were undertaken at the Gericke test laboratory to ensure correct selection and optimisation of the equipment. Fast changeover together with the ability to clean all areas of the equipment internally were of prime importance and all equipment was designed for easy access. www.gericke.net 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the McVities plant a vacuum conveying system (right) and bag dump station were among the equipment supplied by Gericke which also included a batch mixer and weigh belt feeder