The high-speed cheese line for Alpine cheese – maximum efficiency for the processing of Emmental cheeses
Alpine cheese formulated its requirement very clearly. It was looking for a fully automated high-performance line capable, among other things, of cutting and packaging Emmental cheese – with its characteristic hole structure – with absolute weight precision. At the same time, the line should operate so efficiently that only a single operator is required.
A line solution from Weber has achieved precisely that through the use of X-ray technology, Vario product feeding and intelligent weight control. This line achieves 100% good production – all packs are within tolerance so no rework is ever needed. This combination of high-precision technology and fully automated product flow minimizes the manning level required for these lines while also delivering optimum process reliability and exceptionally low giveaway values, even when handling cheeses like Emmental with its characteristic and challenging holes.
Fully networked: from scanner to packaging.
Alpine cheese’ high-performance line consists of
All components are seamlessly networked and literally merge into an overall system that is precisely tailored to the processing of cheeses with holes in.
Optimum cheese processing performance
The line solution starts with the weSCAN 7000. Using X-ray technology, this reliably detects foreign objects while also providing precise information on the density and hole distribution of the raw product. This data is transferred directly and track-specifically to the high-performance wafer slicer weSLICE 9500 as a scanner table.
The slicer translates the scanner data into a perfectly defined slice thickness via the four track-independent Vario product feeders. This ability to identify weight of each portion accurately enables the line to achieve the target weight per track with impressive precision and maximum yield – coupled with unrivaled disc quality and cutting speed. The checkweigher then rechecks each portion, continuously feeding relevant correction data back to the slicer via internal feedback of mean values. This ensures that each individual portion achieves its target weight. The outcome: 100% ‘good’ production, dispensing with the need for any rework.
The weLOAD 5000 automatic belt loader groups the portions by size and shape. It uses buffer belts to balance the loading times of the slicer, and it places portions of cheese into their packaging, already thermoformed by the wePACK 7000. The vibrating station integrated into the packaging machine ensures that all portions are placed cleanly, precisely and without touching the seal seam in the bottom film. An adhesive table at the sealing station and two top film unwinding units enable particularly fast film changes. The longitudinal cutting cassette can also be replaced very rapidly thanks to tool-free replacement. This saves valuable production time and increases the cost-effectiveness of the entire line.
The final station on the line is ‘manned’ by a weSORT 5000 separation robot. This automatically converts the four lanes from the packaging machine into a single lane while simultaneously and reliably ejecting empty packages.
A particular advantage: Weber OneControl connects all machine modules in the line to form a centrally controllable system. All parameters can be accessed and adjusted from any terminal – the key to optimum ease of use combined with a consistently efficient process flow.
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