Pack Expo 2012: Windy City Whirlwind

Today’s confectionery manufacturers face a variety of challenges, including the need to reduce costs, enhance efficiency, meet sustainability goals and compete in

Confectioners will have an opportunity to see a broad range of packaging as well as processing technologies at this year’s Pack Expo in Chicago.

an ever-expanding marketplace. PACK EXPO International, which will take place at Chicago’s McCormick Place on Oct. 28-31, will provide professionals in this industry with the resources and insights to overcome these hurdles.

The show’s candy-centric approach presents several features that help make finding technologies for confectionery processing and packaging fast and easy.

Among them is The Confectionery Pavilion — a sold-out, specialty pavilion located in the South Hall. This dedicated area will showcase solutions for maximizing convenience, shelf life and production line efficiency for chocolates, candy, gum and other confections.

Located inside The Confectionery Pavilion, The Candy Bar lounge (booth S-1283) will provide a central networking location for confectionery manufacturers and suppliers, equipped with an “Ask the Expert” feature where attendees can gain insight from industry veterans, as they address questions on packaging- and processing-related challenges. The lounge will host a special reception on Monday, October 29, from 4:00 pm–5:30 pm.

Both The Candy Bar lounge and The Confectionery Pavilion are sponsored by the National Confectioners Association (NCA).

 “Our partnership with the NCA demonstrates the value that PACK EXPO International 2012 will provide to confectionery manufacturers both as a resource for the technologies they need tomorrow and the insights they need to build a successful future,” said Charles D. Yuska, president and ceo of PMMI. 

Aasted

Aasted’s new line of energy savers was conceived with the highly successful SuperNova Energy tempering machine range launched at interpack 2011. Drawing from the energy pipeline the company is now proud to present the Nielsen Energy enrobers.

The newEnergy enrobing concept deviates from traditional enrobing by its capability to achieve superior control over the chocolate mixture that is enrobed onto a confectioner’s products.

It means that your new Nielsen Energy enrober maintains the highest chocolate quality throughout the entire production run.

Process benefits include the following:

• Combined with ourSuperNova Energy tempering machine, the energy savings are 50% or more.
• The tempering index and the temperature of the mass mixture are kept constant.
• The thickness of enrobed layer is constant.

Once again Aasted shows the way within energy saving measures and climbs the ladder upwards.

For more information, visit www.aasted.eu or stop by booth S-1591

Bosch Packaging Technology

At Pack Expo, Bosch Packaging Technology will introduce the bar packaging line to the American market. The system consists of the distribution station Sigpack DCI, the horizontal flow-wrapper Sigpack HRM with high-performance splice and the new toploader Sigpack TTM.

Designed with operational optimization in mind, the bar packaging line addresses key requirements of bar producers, from speed and hygiene to ease of operation, flexibility and efficiency.

For more information, visit www.boschpackaging.com or stop by booth S-2212.

Bühler

At PackExpo in Chicago, Bühler will show its latest solutions for the chocolate industry, especially in moulding. With theChocoStar Compact, the company  has developed a new moulding line that fulfills nearly every customer wish. The ChocoStar Compact is designed for highest flexibility and increased efficiency. A modular design, combined with reliable technology, makes this moulding line easily expandable with production capacities ranging from 500 up to 1,500 kg/h.

In addition, Bühler will present its latest development in depositing – the FlexiNozzle.  Although small in size, the innovation has a large impact on efficiency within the moulding and packaging process. Thanks to its flexible valves, depositing accuracy and clear tail breaking are ensured with FlexiNozzle.

As a result, the moulds have less smearing and there are less damaged products. Consequently, cleaning and service time can be reduced as well. In an unlikely event of breakage, which could cause loose pieces to fall into the moulds, the valves can be detected by a standard metal detector.

Aside from these two innovations, the Bühler  staff will be pleased to show additional innovative solutions for the cocoa and chocolate industry at its booth.

For more information, visit www.buhlergroup.com or stop by booth 7246

Caotech

At the Pack Expo, Caotech will be pleased to discuss the latest developments on cocoa, chocolate and compound processing. The company will be co-exhibiting in cooperation with our local representative, the American Chocolate Mould Co.

Drawing upon years of expertise in conjunction with its extensive field experience, the company recently launched a number of developments in the field of cocoa, chocolate and compound applications.

Traditionally Caotech’s scope of supply covers a wide variety of installations, varying from a small lab size ball mill type CAO B5 to the well-known CAO B2000-CHOC batch installation. The company also offers the CAO 3000 as a component in a continuous production line for both cocoa and chocolate in complete turnkey projects.

Recently Caotech has developed an alternative continuous conching unit to be used as a wet conching system. This CWC 2000 (Continuous Wet Conche) can be placed behind traditional conches for final homogenization and conching, as well behind ball mill systems for obtaining a high quality chocolate.

At the Pack Exp, the CAO B5 laboratory ball mill refiner will be on display.

For more information, visit www.caotech.com or stop by booth S-1591.

Carle & Montanari -OPM

At Pack Expo, Carle & Montanari – OPM (CM-OPM) presents equipment ranging from chocolate moulding to primary packaging, showing its superior capability to supply customized turn-key solutions.

The Moulding division exhibits a Core chocolate depositor, an electronically driven modular unit, completely removable: the dosing groups are assembled on sliding guides to allow easy removal for cleaning and/or exchange. The Core unit can be quickly extracted from the line for maintenance, cleaning or off-line tests.

The Flow-wrapping division presents the EVO, a new generation power wrapper, designed around the principles of accessibility, easy maintenance, sanitation and ergonomics. Optimization between the fin wheels and the product chain allows the controlled flow-wrapping of small products, reaching a top speed of 1,200 ppm.

CM-Fima, our wrapping specialist for pralines and tablets, shows a high speed wrapper as well: theSWEET MAGIC, a worldwide multi-style wrapping machine for chocolate pralines.

For more information, visit carle-montanari.com or stop by booth S-1588. 

Chocotech

At PMMI in Chicago, Chocotech will exhibit the Jellymaster from its Candy Division, a continuous cooking system for all types of jellies and marshmallows based on gelatin, agar-agar, gum arabic, pectin, carrageenan, modified and high amylose starch.

The principal unit is the Sucrotwist pressure dissolver with its special construction. As there is no dead space generated anywhere, there are no restrictions at all in terms of the jellying agents to be used. The cooker features first-in, first-out product flow with determined guidance of the turbulently streaming product and PLC control with synchronized components in a completely hygienic design that can be connected easily to a CIP-system.

Modern kitchen technology should not only guarantee good product, but also allow minimum continuous run times of 24/6, before CIP is required. Hygienic design and maintenance friendly features (SIS) are also key factors in minimizing downtime.

Fully automatic CIP loops, utilizing dairy-type, non-mix valves, can allow part of the plant to undergo CIP while the other part continues in production mode, or alternatively, CIP of the complete kitchen in one step.

For more information, visit www.chocotech.de or stop by booth S-1582

Egan Food Technologies

Egan Food Technologies, a confectionery and baking process equipment manufacturer and service provider, will unveil at Pack Expo a new slab-bar forming line that is manufactured and serviced from the company’s headquarters in Grand Rapids, Mich.

In the past, similar products have been manufactured primarily overseas, and customers often dealt with high costs from exchange rates and long waits for service requests. Customers of the Egan Food Technologies line will benefit from competitive pricing and timely service.

The company’s engineers designed the slab-bar forming line using industry best practices to create a fully customizable system with state-of-the-art features. Stainless steel components allow for easy sanitation and complete wash down, while a modular design makes way for additional features—such as toppers, cooling conveyors, pressing rollers, extruders, slitter assemblers and an ultra-sonic bar cutter—all of which are available from Egan Food Technologies.

The slab-bar forming line will be on display at the booth.

For more information, visit www.eganfoodtech.com/forming or stop by booth S-1190.    

Hansel Processing

This year, Hänsel Processing will be exhibiting its traditional “Sweet Competence” at Pack Expo in Chicago at the Confectionery Pavilion. Managing Director Frank Temme warmly welcomes visitors to the booth, which will be well-supported by the company’s U.S agency Crosio & Associates,  represented by Russ and Stacey Crosio.

The company’s extensive range of advanced machinery for the production of hard candy, encompassing the Contigrav raw material weighing system, the Crossflow cooker, the Unibatch and Rotamat cookers, and the Strada center filling & forming line, enables the company to supply complete and individual lines from cooking through forming.

 Hänsel Processing´s Sucroliner hard candy lines, with capacities of more than 4,000 kg/h, are a milestone in the confectionery industry market and capable of extracting four different ropes simultaneously, each with a different color and flavor.

Since sustainability and energy conservation have become more and more important, the Sucroliner can — if requested — optionally be equipped with an energy recovering system. During cooking procedure, the evaporation energy is recovered and afterwards used to pre-warm the slurry and other functions. About 600 kW/h can be recovered in such a line while the candy mass retains its approved high quality.

 For more information, contact www.kloeckner-haensel.com or stop by booth S-1482.

Hebenstreit

Hebenstreit supplies production systems for flat and hollow wafers that range from semi-automatic lines with a capacity of about 120 kg/h to fully automatic, high-efficiency lines rated at 1,200 kg/h and more. The extent of the product range begins with raw material dosing and mixing systems for the preparation of wafer batters and extends to the fully automatic conveying of the cut, cream-filled  wafers to subsequent packaging machines, coating  plants or moulding  lines.

Each wafer production system is “tailor-made” according to the individual requirements of the customer. They are designed depending on the type of product required, capacity, grade of automation and existing production facilities. In addition, high-quality products in many cases demand the development of custom-engineered machines.

As a matter of principle, maximum operating safety and the incorporation of the latest technological improvement  — be they mechanical or electrical — remain critical components of every Hebenstreit production system.

Such continual self-improvement minimizes “down time.” For example, all clutch/brake units have been replaced by frequency-controlled drives or servo drives. Consequently, production interruptions because of maintenance requirements or normal wear and tear are minimized.

For more information, click on www.hebenstreit.de. 

Petzholdt Heidenauer

Over the last several, Petzholdt Heidenauer has focused on optimizing and developing its chocolate processing machines. One example of that effort, the company launched a new, more efficient five-roll refiner.

In redesigning its machines, Petzholdt Heidenauer combined the benefits of classic cocoa processing with the latest optimizations available in automation and technology. 

Thus, the new roaster conserves energy consumption and comes with a new air system and more safety features. The new winnower has an automatic opening for better access for maintenance.

In addition, the company’s range of mills has been expanded to include a new beater blade mill as well as a ball mill, both with capacities up to two tons per hour.

The HBM V Vacuum Mixers for the treatment of cocoa liquor represent a totally new development within the cocoa processing machines range. These mixers are available for batch sizes from 500 to 5,000 kg. and are used for sterilizing, alkalizing and treating cocoa liquor with live steam.

The company also offers complete turnkey cocoa factories, which encompasses all supplies for utilities as well as installations and designs for the buildings and infrastructure.

Thus, the company proudly says that “we are back in cocoa processing.”

For more information, visit www.petzholdt-heidenauer.de 

Roberts Packaging Equipment

Robert’s Packaging Equipment is a leading manufacturer of superior stand-up pouch forming and filling machinery. It will be exhibiting its IMFS 1500 intermittent motion horizontal fill-seal machine at the Cloud Packaging Equipment/Roberts Packaging Equipment booth at the show.

The IMFS series offers flexibility in its ability to handle small packages of a few ounces to large packages greater than 20 pounds in a variety of styles. With our traveling funnels the Robert’s machine is able to maintain speed on hard to fill products. 

Robert’s Packaging and its parent company Cloud Packaging Equipment are divisions of Rytway Industries.

For more information, visit www.Robertspackaging.com or stop by booth S-1266.

Sollich KG

Sollich KG of Germany is the world’s leading supplier of enrobers, tempering systems, cooling tunnels and bar forming equipment along with a complete range of associated equipment. At Pack Expo, it will be showing their evolving Enromat M5 Dairy enrober, the all-in-one Turbotemper TT 1000 B tempering machine as well as the Minitemper MT 300 P small-scale tempering unit.

Sollich’s Dairy execution has greatly expanded on the ever-evolving bar forming, cooling and enrobing equipment and now incorporates hygienic features not offered in any other system in the marketplace. Sollich’s Enromat M5 enrober in Dairy execution features several hygienic options, such as a single piece wire belt drive shaft, removable bottoming station and shaker grid, removable blower funnel with MERV 14 filter, dairy-threaded fittings on all mass pipe connections, special design bearing housing, 3A or EHEDG design valves as well as a positive displace pump for full CIP.

This extensive research and development was partially driven by a group of Sollich’s larger clients who partnered with Sollich on the development. Because improved  sanitary/hygienic production was seen as a benefit to the industry, thereby avoiding product recalls, the major manufacturers imposed no marketing restrictions regarding these innovations.

The M5 Dairy coater also incorporates recently introduced state-of-the-art technology that is reflected in all aspects of its individual components. One example is the patented wire tensioned detailer system, which has eliminated the clips normally required to hold the detailer rod in place.

For more information, contact www.sollich.com or stop by booth S-1582

Wire Belt

Wire Belt, the leading developer of open mesh stainless steel conveyor belts, has been keeping confectioners’ lines running for more than 65 years. Made of high quality stainless steel or carbon music wire, Flat-Flex conveyor belts are designed to optimize the performance of chocolate enrobing and candy coating systems. Flat-Flex belts offer superior flow-through characteristics and are perfect for confectionery applications such as cooling, coating and enrobing.  Wire Belt also manufactures a line of specialty conveyor belts to accommodate candy’s unique handling requirements, including flights, compound and aligned belts.

Wire Belt also has introduced its new Versa-Link conveyor belt, one of the most durable and open metal belts available for light to medium-duty applications. Designed with Advanced Link Rods, the innovative linking rods join in as little as 30 seconds. There are no special tools or welding required and the linking rods connect in the center, leaving no weak points.

For additional information, visit www.wirebelt.com or stop by booth 7439. 

Winkler und Dunnebier

Winkler und Dünnebier  Süßwarenmaschinen GmbH — the specialist for any kind of confectionery moulding equipment and the leader in confectionery dosing/depositing technology — has focused its 2012 production series on optimization while simultaneously introducing new developments across the entire processing line.

Under the keyword “Easy-Clean-Execution,” great strides have been made in improving hygiene, expanding flexibility and accelerating the speed of mass changes while improving processing technology. The confectionery lines of the production series 2012 were revised specifically with these goals in mind, building upon WDS’s reputation for manufacturing lines of the highest quality and reliability.

The Landers Group will be representing Winkler and Dunnebier during Pack Expo.

For more information, visit www.w-u-d.com or come by booth S-1085.

Woody Associates

For nearly 60 years, Woody Associates, Inc. has continued to provide customers stringers to the confectionery industry.  As a staple in modern production, the Woody Stringer has the ability to produce zigzag, curved and looped design patterns in a fully automated system.

At PACK Expo, Woody Associates will show users the ease of creating custom designs with the 10-in. Woody Stringer.  Equipped with the ability to produce single and double loop designs, the Stringer will produce crisp clean lines of chocolate patterns on a smooth conveyor belt.  The unit also features a self-cleansing strainer, which prevents clogs in the nozzle tube because of particles in the decorating material.

Also on display will be a 42-in. Heavy-Duty Woody Stringer.  Built for users with production lines in continuous operation, the more robust Stringer requires less maintenance with the ability to run for days on end.

For more information, visit www.woody-decorators.com or stop by booth S-1187.