When Schirnhofer's very existence depended on the proverbial sausage, the company was able to rely on its long-standing partner for machine and plant engineering. Weber Food Technology has equipped the Austrian company with a complete slicer line that allows Schirnhofer to go one better as a service provider in the slicing sector.
Reinvent or disappear? This question probably arises at some point for almost every company that has been active on the market for a sufficiently long time. This is also the case for the meat processing company Schirnhofer, which can look back on 100 years of business activity next year. And during this time, the traditional Austrian company based in Kaindorf near Hartberg has reinvented itself more than once. The last time was five years ago, as Production Manager Jeton Syla remembers well: after withdrawing from the branch business, a lot of structural changes and a strategic reorientation were necessary at Schirnhofer. „Since then, we have consistently specialised in cold cuts“, The production manager explains further. However, because the equipment required for this was already over 20 years old, the company decided to invest in this business area once again.
One system for 40 recipes
There was no lack of complexity in this project, emphasises Syla: „We process over forty different recipes in our production. Packaging these automatically is very challenging,“ explains the production manager. This is particularly due to the high number of format changes. In order to avoid interface problems between the individual system modules during the numerous stops, conversions and restarts of the line, Syla wanted to use a complete line from one manufacturer that was as deeply integrated as possible instead of combining modules from different system manufacturers to form a line. This is why Schirnhofer also uses brand new system modules that Weber has just launched on the market, such as the weLabel, the first labeller from Weber.
Trust in expertise
The order for the complete line from Weber had already been placed, recalls Jeton Syla, when he was introduced to the new SmartChange quick-change system and the new weLabel labeller from Weber. „We knew that this was the first labeller from Weber, but we simply trusted that they would do a good job as always.“ Immediately afterwards, they discussed adapting the order for the system once again and adding the SmartChange system as well as the weLabel 5000 top web labeller and the weLabel 5500 bottom web labeller to be added.
Schirnhofer has also not regretted its decision in favour of SmartChange. On the contrary: the quick-change system allows the mould station and the lower moulds of the Weber thermoforming packaging machine wePack 7000 used by Schirnhofer to be changed in a matter of seconds.
„The advantage is that we can not only carry out a quick format change, but also one that is gentle on the mould. And it's also easier for the employees.“
Jeton Syla, Production Manager at Schirnhofer
Everything from a single source
The new Weber complete line includes all modules from the scanner to the belt separator. It starts with the laser scanner in order to guarantee optimum product utilisation with maximum yield and minimum give-away at Schirnhofer, given the large variety of different products. The Weber weScan 5000 therefore utilises laser scanning technology that guarantees absolute Scanning precision at maximum scanning speed permitted.
The weSlice 7500 slicer was chosen for slicing the raw products. Integrated Vario technology allows independent product feeding on up to four tracks according to the previous scan result. This not only contributes to a first-class yield: The scanner, slicer and scale work so harmoniously together that Schirnhofer achieves a give-away of zero per cent.
The sliced portions are transported onwards by the CompactBuffer and then picked fully automatically, precisely and hygienically by the wePick robot. with up to 130 picks per minute to be inserted into the wePack 7000 high-performance thermoformer. The gluing table integrated into the wePack for changing the top film in particular „is a huge benefit for us,“ emphasises Jeton Syla, „because of the many different types of film that we have to process and that we can now change much more quickly and, above all, more easily.“
The weLabel cross web labellers integrated into the packaging machine give the packs with customised labels on the top and bottom the finishing touches. Finally, the finished individual packs are merged from two tracks into one track using the compact weSort 3000 belt separator.
Thanks to the complete line from a single source, Schirnhofer does not have to worry about interface problems. The line personnel also benefit from the comprehensive integration and networking in terms of line control. „Thanks to OneControl technology, every line component can be controlled from any control panel. This makes work easier for our operating personnel and reduces walking distances,“ explains Jeton Syla. In addition, all machine and performance data can be called up at any time and from anywhere on one of the intuitive terminals.
More delivered than ordered
„Because we received all the line modules from a single source, all the line components can communicate perfectly with each other via a control system thanks to the deep integration on the software side. Thanks to the excellent communication between the modules, a packaging output is achieved that is higher than originally specified by the customer.“
Andreas Rosenberg, Weber representative Franz Gramiller and Son in Austria
The Weber complete line, which Schirnhofer bought for ten cycles per minute, is currently running at over 13 cycles per minute. „The customer got a third of the line for free on top,“ says a delighted Tobias Weber, CEO of Weber Food Technology. The entrepreneur is not at all sorry about this: „I'm delighted with the development that Schirnhofer has now been able to achieve here,“ he says, quoting company owner Karl Schirnhofer, who readily admits that he would not have been able to drive up „the ramp“ without Weber's line solution. „When I hear something like that, I get goosebumps,“ beams Tobias Weber, „it's just super.“ Jeton Syla's pride in the efficiency of his production is also written all over his face: „Thanks to the possibilities that Weber is giving us with the new system, we have the potential for growth,“ he says, looking to the future. And for this future, the man in charge is already the next joint projects for new processing and packaging lines with Weber in mind.
packaging journal 2/2025
