Redesigned coating line slashes changeover time
line, which the company claimsslashes the time it takes to make
product or recipe changes down to 30 minutes from two hours.
The company also said its Universal Coating Line was built to meet the increasingly demandingfood safety requirements in poultry processing plants worldwide.
The line integrates the company's Stein Universal Breader/Preduster, Stein Universal Batter Applicator, Stein Programmable Batter Mixer and the ProMix Batter Mixer.
The line can handle a range of coatings from free-flow, J-crumb and flour-based breading to standard and light tempura batter. In addition,operators can make product and recipe changes within 30 minutes, said Jogesh Chandran, FMC's project engineer.
"The Universal Coating Line was designed with processor's changing product mix in mind,"he said. "The machine's modular design permits product and recipe changes in less than thirty minutes, compared to nearly two hours with previous models. We built the equipment from formed sheet metal to make it easier to clean and more sanitary, with minimal parts removal and no bacteria traps."
The entire line features an open-frame design, containing no hollow structures so as to make iteasier to clean. The line is controlled through a touch screen with mechanical machine readouts and graduated scales for anyadjustment.
The line is available with a hydraulic or electric drive system. Processors can chose two belt widths, 600 and 1000 mm (24" and40"). The line ensures direct compatibility with width standards that represent the majority of the world's food processingcapacity, the company stated.
It can also incorporate a variety of options such as infeed and discharge extension choices, and machine heightadjustment. FMC is offering processors trials of their products on test machines at FMC FoodTech'scenters before they make the decision to buy. This allows them to work with batter and breading experts to determine the optimal product and production specifications.
Elizabeth Monasterio, manager of FMC FoodTech's coating and frying unit, said the line wasdesigned to be compatible with existing processing machines used in plants worldwide.
Some of our customers run processing lines dedicated to a particular product while others run lines that process multiple products daily,"she stated. "Regardless of the production requirements, the Universal Coating Line is able to easily produce high quality products consistently and economically with an equipment design that makes absolutely no compromises in foodsafety."
The line will be released during the third quarter of this year, a company spokesperson stated.FMC FoodTech will provide details of the line at the International Poultry Expo, which begins inAtlanta, Georgia today and ends on 26 January.
