Case Study: Solving a Material Flow Issue with the MARTIN® NTK® Pneumatic Oscillator

Problem

A well known food company in Kitchener, Ontario is a manufacturer of biscuits and cookies. The company uses several of our Piglet Belt Scrapers to make cookies that contain marshmallows and chocolate.

Situation

On a visit to the plant, an engineer inquired as to whether or not we could address and possibly fix a vibration issue. It turns out that a pivoting motion was causing an arm weldment to repeatedly strike a wire mesh screen belt and cause a pivoting oscillation in an axis. As a result, cookies and chocolate were passing through the system, and the ingredients were creating a mess of the screen which was to be recycled.

The issue was one of quality control. The amount of chocolate adhering to the screen versus the amount of chocolate passing through the screen was the problem. Despite the temperature control and the fat formulation, originally the end product was not turning out as expected.

Solution

The MARTIN^® NTK^® Pneumatic Oscillator was the solution to the problem, as it was found that it works in a pivoting motion. The operator is now working correctly to consistently produce a delicious, high-quality cookie.