It comes as a surprise to many, how various competitive advantages are gained, when the dosing and weighing processes of a company are automated.
Normally, a company automate its dosing and weighing processes in order to boost production, an example being the Norwegian food giant Stabburet. In recent years, it has modernised dosing and weighing processes with the help of Dosetec Exact.
Last year Dosetec tailored automatic dosing for the ten strewers at one pizza production line at their Stranda factory. There they manufacture the famous Grandiosa frozen pizza together with Big One and Originale pizza brands. The strewers sprinkle flour onto rolled dough to maintain the dough’s consistency and so it does not to stick to the dough rolling device. The filling for strewers is continuous, and the flour dosing is completely automatic now.
– The automatic dosing has made our pizza production quicker and more efficient, tells the bakery’s chief, Mr. Tommy Torgersen. The factory manufactures 35 million frozen pizzas each year.
Enhanced work ergonomics
Thanks to the new automatic dosing system, the factory now benefits from enhanced work ergonomics. Running around with heavy filling sacks from one strewer to another is gone, making more time for essential tasks.The excess flour quantity during strewing is restored back to the dosing process by a vacuum conveying system, thus keeping the working environment dust free. Dosetec’s sizeable experience from various space utilization applications also produced a solution, which eliminated a cramped workspace according to customer’s wishes.
Carefree and easy to use
In order to benefit from the new dosing system in the best way, the control system of flour dosing was also fully upgraded.Dosetec’s control systems are always designed with an easy user interface. At Stranda, the system is equipped with Siemens S7 technology and two 15-inch touch screens.
The Norwegian-language system collects service condition data of the dosing equipment for preventive maintenance. The operation is secured and duplicated: the dosing is automatically changed from an emptying silo to a full one without moving a finger.
Accuracy for the dosing, uniform quality for the end products
This year, the enhancement of the dosing and weighing systems continued at Stranda, as Dosetec fully automated the dosing of small components at their other pizza production line.
Now seven small components are accurately dosed on the basis of the loss-in-weight principle. The dosage sizes of five small components are 1–10 kilos, and with two micro components under one kilo.In addition, Dosetec automated the dosing of liquid yeast.
The system features adjustable dosing velocity and yeast temperature measurement.The automation eliminates the possibility of forgetting ingredients to be dosed, and other human errors, thus guaranteeing uniform product quality. Like last year, this delivery also requested a high-efficiency solution for space utilization.
– We are very satisfied with our cooperation with Dosetec. The solutions related to projects last and this year serve us in the way we want, says the bakery’s chief, Mr. Tommy Torgersen.