Seeberger: Packing coffee beans with maximum precision
Efficiency gains realised: A multihead weigher from Ishida optimises the packing and filling of coffee beans at the long-established company Seeberger.
24. July 2020
The CCW-RVE multihead weigher works faster and significantly reduces overfilling. (Image: Ishida)
End consumers appreciate the traditional Seeberger brand for its natural dried fruit and nuts. Coffee specialities for business customers are another part of the product range. To make the packaging process more efficient, the long-established company has now invested in technology for filling coffee beans. The plant has been upgraded with an Ishida CCW-RVE multihead weigher.
Seeberger GmbH is one of the oldest coffee roasting companies in Germany and is celebrating its anniversary this year. 175th anniversary. Green coffee beans have been processed at the Ulm site since the 19th century. Today, the company produces top-quality coffees for the catering and corporate customer sectors, whose intense aroma is achieved through gentle long-term drum roasting.
Among the total 24 varieties of roasted coffee there are also certified Organic and Fairtrade products. More and more customers are grinding their own coffee, which is why the majority of Seeberger coffees are packaged in whole beans. The fully automatic filling of a corresponding packaging line was modernised in February 2019.
Demand for premium machinery
Seeberger had previously been using a four-track linear weigher, which was due to be replaced. The speed had been restricted by a defect and the procurement of spare parts had come to a standstill. Seeberger commissioned Ishida to design a new packaging solution.
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Johannes Buchenscheit, Head of Coffee Production (left), and Daniel Rackl, Project and Innovation Manager, are very satisfied with the packaged coffee. (Image: Ishida)
„The decisive factor was our positive experience with several multihead weighers from this manufacturer in our production,“ explains Daniel Rackl, Project and Innovation Manager at Seeberger. „As far as the machinery is concerned, we are pursuing a Premium strategy."
Following successful tests, a multihead weigher in a circular design from the new CCW-RVE series with electromagnetic feed chute installed. The 14-head machine with three-litre trays is ideal for this application.
Weighing with high performance
The coffee beans are fed through a hopper onto the distribution plate of the scale. A weighing cell below the plate regulates the feed quantity, and individually controllable radial chutes convey the product to the pre-shells. The tightly closing trays retain even the smallest particles. In fractions of a second, a microprocessor calculates the combination of partial quantities that comes closest to the target weight.
The weighed coffee beans are then filled directly into stand-up pouches. Seeberger produces Three pack formats with 250, 500 and 1,000 gram filling weights. A speed is currently being achieved with the large packs that represents a significant increase compared to the previous model.
The coffee beans are weighed with the utmost precision. (Image: Ishida)
Reduce product loss - increase availability
Even more significant than the increased speed is the improved filling accuracy. The Ishida weigher significantly reduces overfilling. At the same time, the new packaging solution impresses with its extremely Gentle processing of the sensitive coffee beans. The minimum breakage rate achieved in this way is an important quality feature for high-quality coffee beans.
The new CCW-RVE multihead weigher also impresses with its improved operability. According to Seeberger employees, the effort required for manual settings has been reduced to a minimum and the centralised operator panel saves a lot of walking. For the product changes that occur several times a day, only five instead of 15 minutes required.
All product-carrying parts can be removed and replaced without tools as part of the weekly basic cleaning. Wet cleaning is according to protection class IP 54 possible. All these factors ensure maximum availability.
The coffee beans are fed through a hopper onto the multihead weigher and are evenly distributed onto the front trays of the weigher via individually controllable radial chutes. (Image: Ishida)
Scales for the smart factory
The multihead weigher has given Seeberger even more options for process optimisation. The CCW-RVE model is Compatible with Industry 4.0 technology. Using the web-based Sentinel software, the pre-configured scales can be connected directly to the Ishida service for performance monitoring.
Production data can be recorded and analysed there in real time. Daily reports then provide information about Trend values, batch sizes and statistics. Faults or drops in performance are recognised at an early stage and rectified remotely.
[infotext]At Seeberger, the investment in the multihead weigher is seen as the right decision. „The Ishida weigher fulfils all our requirements and works without a hitch,“ says Daniel Rackl. Amortisation should be achieved within a maximum period of six years[/infotext].
