Checkweigher maintains standards for Request Foods

Request Foods, a leading copacker of custom entrees, side dishes and specialty items, is consistently ranked among the top frozen-food companies in the U.S. Its success is built on its dedication to finding new ways to keep costs down by increasing production efficiencies, while maintaining the highest quality and responsiveness. To help achieve these goals, Request Foods recently turned to Mettler-Toledo Hi-Speed (www.mt.com/hi-speed) and installed the new stainless-steel A300 checkweigher; a compact, two-belt system designed for mild to moderate washdown environments.

“Growing demand for single-serve, ready-to-cook meals led us to reconfigure one of our packaging lines to handle both bulk and single-serve products,” says Ray Huizenga, plant operations manager at Request Foods. “When we run single-serve products on this line, the A300 slides in to weigh them. When we run bulk products, we pull the A300 off the line and slide a larger checkweigher into place. The A300 is a free-standing unit that can be easily lifted into the line by two people.”

Value pricing for smaller lines

The A300 is a value-priced checkweigher designed specifically for smaller packaging lines, where space is at a premium. In only 30 in. of line space, it can accommodate a variety of packages weighing from 1.5 oz to 10 lb, that are up to 7.9-in. wide. Handling up to 165 packages/min, the A300 achieves an accuracy of +/-1 g at two Sigma.

“When we were shopping for a checkweigher for this latest project, we considered technology from several different manufacturers,” says Huizenga. “Footprint was an important factor; the smaller the better. Obviously, we were looking for good accuracy, and we wanted to maintain our line speeds. We went back and forth between the two frontrunners. The A300 is a good checkweigher at a good price, and we've had good experiences with Hi-Speed in the past.”

Request Foods was the first in the world with Hi-Speed's new A300 checkweigher, which it installed in February 2008. The A300 combines the robust, field-proven A200 frame with an updated operator interface and a new electronics platform. A hermetically sealed loadcell with overload protection ensures long-term accuracy and weighing performance, while the stainless-steel construction and open design eases sanitation and maintenance. Servo drives with speed memory deliver excellent speed control and ensure high durability and responsiveness.

Line runs 20 products

At Request Foods, the A300 is weighing a range of single-serve products from eight to 12 oz. These ready-to-cook products are packed in plastic or pressed paper board trays with film lids. Approximately 20 different single-serve products run on the line and changeovers typically occur one to three times/day. The operator interface provides three weight-classification zones and can hold 40 products in memory. With the checkweigher at Request Foods preprogrammed to handle its products, it takes just three taps on the color touchscreen and less than two sec to accomplish the changeover.

“The A300 is very user friendly,” notes Huizenga. “The user interface is easy to learn and easy to use. We like the fact that the system is password protected for various levels of access. This prevents people from making adjustments that they may not be authorized to make. This checkweigher, with its open design, is also very easy to clean and to maintain.”

At Request Foods, one sanitation shift follows the two production shifts every day. Although they take precautions to not hit the electronics with high-pressure water, the IP66-rated A300 is sealed at all cable entry points and has a hermetically sealed loadcell to withstand washdowns. IP (Ingress Protection) ratings are developed by the European Committee for Electro Technical Standardization to specify the environmental protection that an enclosure provides. In the IP66 rating, the first six signifies that the unit is totally protected against dust, and the second six signifies that it is protected against low-pressure jets of water. “In addition to our sanitation shift, we have mid-shift cleanups,” says Huizenga. “It's important that the checkweigher can withstand this type of wet environment.”

In addition to easy sanitation, Hi-Speed designed the A300 for easy maintenance. The conveyor module can be removed and the belt replaced without tools. And the open design offers open sight lines that facilitate visual inspection and accessibility for maintenance. The integrated control enclosure is mounted within the footprint of the machine between the two front legs. To save space, the enclosure door opens to the front, which allows the system to be located closer to walls or other production lines. This design also permits safer access to the electronics, because it eliminates the need to crawl under or step over the production line.

Easy maintenance access

“Although we have access to both the front and the back of the system in our plant, it's still helpful to be able to access the electronics from the front. That way, our maintenance crew can get to the electronics while keeping the control panel in view, which is sometimes helpful,” explains Huizenga.

To maximize safety, Hi-Speed located the main power-disconnect, emergency-stop and conveyor start/stop actuators on the front of the machine at approximately the same height as the conveyors. This eliminates the need to reach across a moving conveyor to access any of the main controls.

The A300 can provide weight data for individual packages in real time using an optional serial, Ethernet Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) or fieldbus interface. This provides end users with immediate access to production data, which they can use to optimize production processes or even control upstream machinery to reduce underfills and overfills. Request Foods currently is using its checkweigher to identify and automatically reject underfilled and overfilled products from the production stream. When such an out-of-tolerance product is identified, an optional airblast ejector diverts the product to a reject bin.

To ease installation, the freestanding A300 is height-adjustable from 24 to 44 in. To further ease startup, Hi-Speed provides an optional installation and commissioning service called IPac. This service includes machine installation, setup, testing and training. “The A300 has certainly met our expectations,” says Huizenga. “We're happy with its weighing accuracy, its uptime and its throughput. Having this checkweigher on this line allows our customers to be confident that we are meeting their expectations.”

Request Foods customers include national consumer-product companies, foodservice customers, clubstores, retailers, restaurants and hospitality markets in North America. Its 350,000 sq-ft manufacturing facility can produce more than 5 million lb of product per week and presently includes nearly 400 custom entrees, side dishes, appetizers, sauces and desserts. In addition to copacking national brands and foodservice items, it tailors products for many specific markets.

“Request Foods is a family-owned company of high values and character,” concludes Huizenga. “Customer service is very important to us. We're driven to exceed our customers' demands for quality and responsiveness. The A300 checkweigher helps us achieve these goals.”