Challenge

A market leader in the production of baby food was using a clamp style scraper system with thick, heavy steel blades. There were several issues with this type of system:

• The heavy clamped blades were released from the front of the holder, this presented a health and safety risk because there were concerns the heavy blade could fall out the front of the holder and injure an operator.
• To release the clamped blade, the operator had to unscrew numerous bolts, this was time-consuming (60 mins).
• The existing blade life was 12-18 hours, depending on product type. They produce infant cereal such as creamy rice pudding and porridge.
• The existing blades were re-ground for re-use. This increased the risk of metal contamination in the end product.

Solution

Kadant UK suggested to convert the heavy clamp style holder to a Kadant AccuFlake™ PRO holder, which allows quick and easy blade changes. The blade is light, easy to handle and can be removed quickly from the end of the holder. Many Kadant UK blades are HACCP International certified and provide longer life, therefore, they do not need to be re-ground, which reduces the risk of metal contamination.

Results

After the installation of the AccuFlake PRO holder, the customer experienced the following benefits:

• Blade removal takes less than two minutes, reduced downtime.
• Blade life has increased to 40-50 hours, depending on product type.
• Improved health and food safety.