Project Profile

Sep 11, 2023

In the space of 12 weeks, Precision Engineering (Dico & Gravfil) designed, built and installed a turnkey filling line for Frylight, the one calorie cooking oil spray produced by MH Foods. Lynda Searby finds out more

Who MH Foods, part of Dairy CrestWhat Turnkey line, comprising a Posimat unscrambler, Gravfil filler and Wipotec-OCS checkweigher, designed and installed by Precision Engineering(Dico & Gravfil)Why To increase capacity on one of its Frylight production linesWhen December 2017

Challenge

The Frylight range of one calorie cooking oil sprays produced by MH Foods is one of Dairy Crest’s top performing brands, having experienced double digit sales growth year on year for the last five years.

With demand showing no signs of slowing, last summer, MH Foods took the decision to increase capacity on one of its Frylight production lines in Erith, Kent.

“We had perfectly good equipment; it just couldn’t keep up with demand,” says Darren Mackie, head of supply at MH Foods.

It was apparent that the two main pinch points on this line were the filler, which was about 20 years old, and empty bottle loading, which was being carried out manually. The capping / pump tightening operation had already been upgraded earlier in the year with a new high speed Dico rotary capper manufactured and installed by Precision Engineering.

Strategy

MH Foods invited several equipment suppliers to submit proposals for increasing the capacity of the line whilst taking into account several other requirements.

“We needed to achieve a certain speed but we were also looking for a solution that would treat the product gently. That ruled out any filling solutions that utilised too much pressure. For the unscrambling operation, we had already done some research and knew we wanted a Posimat as it is a tried and tested piece of kit, so the line had to incorporate that system,” says Mackie.

MH Foods also wanted an automatic solution for controlling fill volume on the 190ml bottles using feedback from a checkweigher.

“We wanted something that would give tight fill control and good yield management,” says Mackie. It was the solution specified by Precision Engineering, a Kent-based company offering complete in-house design, manufacturing and after-sales service, that came out on top.

“We looked at a number of providers and were convinced that Precision Engineering could deliver the integrated solution that we wanted. They have delivered for us before and we had confidence in their ability to manage the project, source kit from other manufacturers, and design and build the line. The decision wasn’t just about price – it was about the complete package,” says Mackie.

Besides bottle unscrambling, filling and checkweighing, Precision Engineering’s proposal incorporated a spray-ball based FIP (flush in place) system for the filler, which wasn’t part of the brief. However, a demonstration of the system in Precision Engineering’s factory convinced MH Foods that this was a “big benefit”.

“Even though we wanted cleaning between products to be done quickly and with minimal manual intervention, an advanced FIP system wasn’t something we were looking for. However, this system won us over, as it uses really efficient spray ball technology for an extremely fast and thorough clean,” says Mackie.

Implementation

In September 2017, MH Foods placed its order for the new line, targeting installation by the end of year.

Then it was down to Precision Engineering to design, source, test and integrate the various line components. For the unscrambler, for example, Precision went to Posimat’s factory in Barcelona to spec the machine and carry out FATs (Factory Acceptance Tests).

Just 12 weeks later – between Christmas and New Year – the line was installed and commissioned in the first week of 2018.

“We were under immense time pressure, as we only had three days to get the line installed,” recalls Rick Aitchison, operation and sales director at Precision Engineering.On the new line, the 15-head Posimat bottle unscrambler with vacuum conveyor feeds a servo controlled multi-head Gravfil volumetric filling machine.

“Filling speed and nozzle control are infinitely controllable using the very latest Siemens servo motor technology. This allows us to profile map the filling cycle to the container, optimising output, accuracy and repeatability,” explains Aitchison.

Precision Engineering specified a rotary checkweigher as it overcame challenges with space constraints and container stability. As per MH Foods’ brief, the checkweigher automatically transmits ‘single weight’ data back to the filler in real time, enabling automatic control of filling volumes to ensure fill levels are at a very high level of consistency. This in turn delivers an almost 100% yield return from the filling process.

“The filler and checkweigher are working together exactly as we wanted them to; this automatic on-line control of fill levels means no manual intervention is necessary to maintain high filling accuracy and good yield management,” says Mackie.

Each machine incorporates remote diagnostics, allowing Precision Engineering to log in to monitor equipment and provide support from its factory.

Results

The line has only been up and running for a few weeks, but already, MH Foods says it is seeing benefits.

“The unscrambler has made bottle delivery faster, and the filler and checkweigher are performing exactly as we had hoped, delivering an improvement in yield and productivity,” says Mackie.

The line was specified to run at much higher speeds than the old filler and Mackie says the increase in capacity is enabling MH Foods to keep up with current demand for Frylight, as well as providing some spare capacity to allow for future growth.

“We have invested in a line that has given us over-capacity of about 35-40% so that we won’t have to invest again in additional capacity in the next few years. We always try to keep production capacity ahead of demand,” he says.