interpack 2017: Exhibitors show energy-efficent solutions

At interpack 2017 in Düsseldorf from 4 to 10 May, many packaging innovations for confectionery and bakery products will be on show. 2,700 exhibitors are expected, and some 1,000 of these have named the confectionery industry as a target group for their products and services.

Machine manufacturers will also be present in Düsseldorf with numerous innovations. Vera Fritsche, expert at the association for food processing machines and packaging machines within VDMA (Mechanical Engineering Industry Association) says, “Manufacturers of food-processing and packaging machines accord high priority to handling natural resources responsibly and managing their processes with minimal environmental impact. They know how important sustainable production processes are for customers.”
In confectionery production, Vera Fritsche continues, there is still plenty of room for optimisation. Intelligent control and automation technologies and energy-efficient drives, compressors, fans and pumps are some of the classical solutions for saving electricity and other resources and boosting energy-efficiency. Efficient motors perfectly adapted to machine movements and acceleration processes reduce power consumption. In addition, says Vera Fritsche, innovative and optimised processes cut the consumption of energy and water, while innovative machine designs extend service and maintenance intervals as well as service life and thus save energy.
Swiss plant manufacturer Bühler, one of the prime movers in efficient processing solutions, has set itself the goal of reducing energy consumption in all of its core processes by at least a further 20 per cent by 2020. “This way we can both raise the energy-efficiency of our products and also do our bit for environmental protection at the same time,” says Ian Roberts, the Group’s Chief Technology Officer. He sees a central aspect here in productivity – by shortening cycle times, for example. Additionally, Bühler is redoubling its efforts to improve the energy efficiency of existing customer installations.
Because of the numerous process steps such as cleaning, roasting, debacterising, crushing and grinding the cocoa beans, chocolate manufacture is highly complex and costly. Bühler pledges to slash energy costs in cocoa processing by 65 per cent if customers make use of the company’s free energy audit and also adopt its shell burning technology. The audit is used for tracking down energy leaks in the production process. As an alternative to the direct disposal of the shells, the new combustion system exploits the energy obtained from the shells for roasting and debacterising, so no heating energy has to be bought in.

Modular principle helps producers to cut costs

The Swiss company Knobel Maschinenbau, a specialist in machines for chocolate manufacture, helps producers to cut costs in other ways. It sells its equipment – moulding lines, stand-alone depositors and other devices – on the modular principle so that customers can extend their production step by step and, if required, re-equip their production locally segment-wise. This offers them high flexibility and thus permits rapid and efficient changeover to new products. Swift re-equipping has also been made possible by simply integrating new machines in the system on the plug-and-play principle, Knobel explains.
With numerous efficiency-boosting innovations, machine manufacturers have attuned themselves to the requirements of manufacturers of confectionery and bakery products. This gives the latter plenty of scope not only in their choice of packaging materials, but also in the modernisation of their lines. And at interpack, they can find out all about these innovations.