Spee-Dee® Slashes Waste with Revolutionary Bakery Depositor
Sturtevant, Wis. — James P. Navin, President of Spee-Dee® Packaging Machinery, Inc., recently announced the availability of the innovative multi-lane Spee-Dee Bakery Depositor. Navin stated, “Baking industry customers have been dealing with critical amounts of waste in placing toppings on frozen dough products. Our newest addition to the Spee-Dee family of efficiency enhancing auger fillers will solve this dilemma.”
According to Timm Johnson, Spee-Dee Vice President, Sales/Marketing, there are complex topping challenges facing frozen dough producers. Bakers of buns, rolls, bagels, crackers, English muffins, snack bars and cookies for the consumer market often place cheese, spices, salt, seasonings and seeds on top of their products. Extruded dough products are dropped onto pans on moving conveyors. “When running toppings, the current waterfall method involves starting the deposit of the topping at the leading edge of the pan and continuing to the end of the pan, regardless of placement of the product,” Johnson explained. This can result in almost as much topping on empty spots on the pan as on the actual rolls or bagels.”
In order to combat this costly waste, Spee-Dee has designed a system of multi-lane augers to control accuracy and efficiency. The Spee-Dee Bakery Depositor allows for non-uniform placement within the rows of product. On each lane a photo eye senses the leading edge of the individual product in its row and initiates ingredient dispensing onto the top of the product.
Computer programming of the precise number of auger revolutions needed determines the duration of the dispensing. The end result is a significant increase in accuracy and a dramatic decrease in waste. “Until the photo eye sees a bar or a bagel in its lane,” Johnson stressed, “it dispenses no topping. The Spee-Dee unit tops individual products, not the pan.”
The Spee-Dee® Bakery Depositor is another in the ever increasing family of Spee-Dee® Servo III Digitronic® Auger Fillers, and can be configured to accommodate any number of lanes from 1 to 12, with product centerlines from 2.5″ and up. The Depositor’s standard full color touch screen operator interface features easy to read graphics and pop-up menus. Allen-Bradley platforms are available, and, as with all Spee-Dee Digitronic Auger Fillers, there are no proprietary parts.
“Every PLC based Spee-Dee Servo 3500 Digitronic Auger Filler, no matter its configuration,” Johnson reiterated, “offers the benefits of servo drive equipment: a dramatic decrease in both downtime and the expense of replacement parts as compared to clutch/brake machines. In addition, servo technology provides repeatable, accurate filling cycles, reducing expensive product giveaway, and thus increasing profitability.”
Spee-Dee® Packaging Machinery, Inc. is a premier quality manufacturer of equipment to measure and fill dry products in consumer size containers (bags, bottles, pouches, cans and cartons). Spee-Dee is the only company to supply both auger and volumetric fillers, and the only company that supplies servo drives for auger and cup fillers. Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery serves a global base of clients in diverse market segments, including the food, chemical, pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. Now in its third decade, the company boasts a star-studded client roster of industry giants and Fortune 500 companies. A history of innovative electrical and mechanical design and programming, coupled with advanced technology and unparalleled customer service, support Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery’s position as an industry leader.
For more information, please contact Timm Johnson, Vice President, Sales/Marketing, Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery, Inc., 1360 Grandview Parkway, Sturtevant, WI 53177, toll free 877-375-2121, 262-886-4402 or fax 262-886-5502. Send e-mail to info@spee-dee.com, and visit Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery’s Web site at www.spee-dee.com.