Automation to the rescue: Accurately batching minor ingredients in bags
By preweighing minor ingredients into bags and adding the bags to a process, you can eliminate the need to weigh the ingredients right at the process line. This can speed production and ensure each minor ingredient's weight precisely matches the product spec. The results: A more efficient process and a higher quality final product.
Whether you supply preweighed minor ingredients in bags to your customers or bag the minor ingredients for your own use, an automated batching system can help you quickly, accurately bag the ingredients. [Editor's note: This article concentrates on filling minor ingredients into open-mouth plastic bags, but the ingredients can also be filled into other containers, such as paper bags, plastic pails, or drums.] After explaining how automation can minimize human error in batching minor ingredients, this article describes steps in an example batching operation. Later sections cover batch controllers and feeders, the relationship between feeder accuracy and speed, and how a consultant can help you select a system.