Pneumatic Conveying System Reclaims 80 percent of Product for Baking Operation

Bellville, NJ, April 27, 2010 – In any economy improving process efficiency and reducing costs is an achievement in the food industry, and Jerry Hancock, Maintenance Manager at Harlan Bakeries (HB), found just the way to do that using a pneumatic conveying systems.

Although cornmeal is not an expensive ingredient, Hancock wanted a way to reclaim excess cornmeal from HB's bagel processing line and took it upon himself to find an alternative to discarding 1400 pounds of product per day. "It was something I wanted to do, I wanted to save some money," he says.

HB is a family-owned business that produces and supplies premium-quality Kosher bagels and bagel related products to grocers as well as high-profile clients.

Previously, HB reclaimed some product manually through catch pans placed strategically below transfer points among 7 belt conveyors. However, the process was time intensive and saved very little product. The pans would need to be dumped, transported through the plant and then run through a sifter. "We would weigh out about 1000 pounds a day. That's what we threw away," he says. The rest of it would go onto the floor as waste."

So amongst his other duties, Hancock went to work at designing a solution. After coming up with three different solutions, decided on a VAC-U-MAX pneumatic conveying systems.

Hancock learned about VAC-U-MAX, a manufacture of pneumatic conveyor systems and support equipment for the conveying, weighing, and batching of dry materials, through another HB plant that had VAC-U-MAX equipment. Although the application was different, others familiar with the equipment said it could probably do what he needed.

After deciding how many pick up points he would need, the distance between them, and what the farthest and closest pick up points would be he contacted Mr. Mike Roessler, from Roessler Company Inc., a manufacturer's representative of engineered dry bulk material handling and processing equipment.

It was determined that three lines were necessary and would travel vertically as well as horizontally from the catch pans to the vacuum receiver with a total of five pick up points.

Familiar with the cornmeal material characteristics, VAC-U-MAX suggested the use of pinch valves for the material line to ensure free passage of the cornmeal, ultimately producing maximum efficiency in the pneumatic conveying system.

"These pinch valves really surprise me," says Hancock. "They're like a tank. VAC-U-MAX does put a lot of quality into the product."

Hancock says that the system enables them to save 80 percent of cornmeal on a daily basis, "which is better than what we anticipated," he says. "The pneumatic conveying system has been operation for four months and it's pretty close to paying for itself."

In addition to the pneumatic conveyor systems eliminating any product on the floor and reclaiming the majority of the product, the company has also experienced labor savings in reduced housekeeping needs. "It saves about a half a person a shift. We didn't eliminate any positions, it is just that they are doing things they didn't have time to do before," says Hancock.

For more information about a VAC-U-MAX pneumatic conveying systems or industrial vacuum cleaner solutions, including industrial vacuum cleaners for combustible dust, write to them at 37 Rutgers Street, Belleville, NJ 07109; call (888)241-6992 or (973) 759-4600; e-mail info@vac-u-max.com; or visit their website www.vac-u-max.com.