In the highly competitive baked goods sector, it always pays to be prepared - and have your process control systems and production lines fully up to date and cutting edge. When a market-leading baked goods and mixes specialist needed to up its game by improving productivity, it looked to long-term partner Promtek for the optimum solution.

The customer is a leading UK manufacturer of baked goods and mixes based in the Midlands, with family values that ultimately guide the business in how it operates. With over 100 years of expertise in flagship baked products and ingredients, unmatched international manufacturing and distribution capabilities, the company is one of the world’s largest suppliers of bakery solutions.

Promtek has been the company’s main process control supplier since 1993 and, in the last two decades, has completed many partner projects. This latest project presented Promtek with the challenge of improving all aspects of its weighing process; the real challenge lay in implementing the necessary upgrades with minimum downtime and disruption to production schedules.

A top-quality weighing system takes full advantage of modern hardware and software. Additionally, a weighing system can come in many configurations but typically includes one or more load cells that support a weigh vessel, a junction box, and a weigh controller. They can be affected by many issues including load cell accuracy, and environmental forces. So, it is important to choose the correct machinery and technology to get the best and most accurate results from your weighing system.

Promtek’s StoraWeigh9000 platform met – in fact far exceeded - the customer’s requirements. The platform is a feature-rich process control system that can handle any bulk material handling process that runs on all major Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) hardware and allows them to be mixed freely.

Additional improvements implemented by Promtek’s engineers to the production line included:

• Downscaling the hand addition from six to three bins – this resulted in reduced pipe works in the factory.

• Blow lines were upgraded and replaced by modern vacuum exhausters controlled by the latest ‘soft start’ motor starters. This greatly improves energy consumption and improves the motor’s lifespan by reducing wear and tear during start/stop cycles.

• A full rewire to separate different parts of the system into more defined control panels.

• The latest high-definition graphics package installed and improved remote access. This was a key pillar of the upgrade, ensuring that the system could be available for technical support and open the opportunity for technicians to work from home. That’s a real boon for companies looking to adopt a more flexible working environment. 

By implementing lean improvements to the line, the company became more efficient, saved money, improved automation and was more effectively future proofed. The new weighing vessels increased weighing accuracy and the new control panels deliver the raw materials in a vastly more efficient and consistent way. The reduction in bin numbers decreased manual handling and increased the overall factory floor space, a space saving measure with a real cost saving benefit. The reduced pipe work brings lower maintenance costs - another considerable saving - whilst modern vacuum exhausters help to conserve energy and protect the motors, increasing longevity and reliability.

The software contains highly repeatable and consistent user configurable multi-speed setpoints to define the transfer speed between raw material silos to auto weighers. This feature’s control system runs at variable speed to fine tune production and can take account of all the measurables during manufacturing. Historically, all control was wired through one control panel which was very inefficient and time-consuming - but the upgrade will decrease downtime in the rare case of a breakdown, and further improve efficiency.

During implementation a Promtek engineer was fully involved in the specification and design process. Beyond helping the company upgrade its entire weighing process for future growth and further efficiency savings, Promtek’s industry leading 24/7 customer support will now be on hand to assist with parts replacement and servicing as required. The project was so impressive that it won first place in the Food Processing Magazine’s annual awards.

Charles Williams, Promtek’s managing director, explained, “It’s always really gratifying when a long-standing customer comes back to us time and again for system upgrades and enhancements. We believe wholeheartedly in creating and building on mutually collaborative relationships with our clients. We listen and work together to deliver solutions; we never impose. In this case we are absolutely delighted to have contributed to a significant uplift in productivity for another loyal customer, and will look forward to seeing them reap the benefits over the coming years.”