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April 2008 PLCs, DCSs & Controllers

German based VIVIL is a family business into its fourth generation. The company has 222 employees worldwide, responsible for the sale of the company's range of chewable sweets. Automatic process sequences, increased production requirements and a rise in market demand today call for the installation of high-quality products, such as the BATCH-X5 controller from Sartorius.

Batching equipment

For high-quality and fast production of large quantities, automated process sequences not only save time, but also meet today's requirements imposed by the food industry.

In view of this, batching equipment - including the BATCH-X5 controller from Sartorius - has been integrated at the company's production facilities. The factory was developed in cooperation with Sartorius Hamburg's system partner for the sweets industry, Uwe Wilhelm Engineering, responsible for the electrical design, while Fluid-Kotthoff, supplied the mechanical expertise.

The plant serves to batch ingredients, such as water, sugar and glucose, as well as binding agents like starch and gelatine. After batching, the mass is heated with steam to produce a saturated sugar solution. By installing a disperser, powdery materials, such as starch, can be mixed into the solution. This process produces the hard and soft sugar used for coating the chewable sweets.

In the preliminary manufacturing process, the chewable sweet mass is produced in a continuous cooking plant and subsequently shaped into candy drops by means of a forming machine. A conveyor system then transports the drops to a sugar-coating plant, in which they are coated with a hard or soft sugar solution. In the next manufacturing process, the sweets are taken by a conveyor system to fill the hoppers.

Quality, reliability and performance

Frank Brüger, VIVIL's electrical engineering manager, commented, "Since we were due to change our company's old batch weighing systems in the medium term, we investigated a number of replacement solutions. After assessing our needs, it became apparent that the BATCH-X5 controller from Sartorius would meet all our requirements. The most important factor was the option to exchange the weighing system while retaining the rest of the control technology.

"Since we use Sartorius equipment in the laboratory we have confidence in the performance and quality of the company and its products. Due to our experiences in recent years, it is extremely important to us to work with a reliable partner and to guarantee our investment for the future."

For more information contact Patrick Radermacher, taratec, +27 (0)11 660 6277, [email protected], www.taratec.co.za

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