Ishida reports on their delivery of its Ishida Atlas Packaging Systems to Russia’s largest snack producer, KDV Group.
Four Twin Ishida Atlas economy range ECO (Integrated Packaging Systems) are providing the reliability and flexibility to handle the high production throughputs of Russia’s largest snack producer.
KDV Group is a leading Russian confectionery, bakery and snacks manufacturer. The company’s origins date back 20 years to the acquisition of the Yashkino food factory in the Kemerovo region. After major investment at the production site, including the full upgrading and refurbishing of its manufacturing facilities, KDV started production of a variety of weighed confectionery products, including waffles, cookies and gingerbread under the Yashkino brand.
Over the years KDV products became widely recognized in various parts of Russia. Consistently high demand for Yashkino confectionery led to the company extending the geography of its sales, with the establishment of new production facilities in different parts of the country, which enabled KDV products to be more accessible to the mass consumer.
Today KDV Group comprises 11 factories, producing over 350 types of confectionery products (including waffles, cookies, marshmallow soufflé, gingerbread, caramel and chocolate candy, marmalade, and chocolate) and snacks (such as croutons, potato crisps, pellet chips, dried fish, seafood, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and packed nuts). The company owns 15 trade brands including major Russian names Kirieshki, Babkiny semechki and Yashkino.
KDV’s snack ranges offer consumers the combination of excellent quality at affordable prices. A key reason for this is that the company grows its own potatoes next to its main factory in Yashkino. The potatoes are then fried in oil, made from sunflower seeds sourced locally from the Altay region and grown by another KDV company, KDV Agro.
Just as important to this quality manufacturing is the company’s commitment to using only the best processing and packaging equipment - from Heat & Control and Ishida respectively.
In 2008 KDV expanded its potato crisp production to meet growing demand that its existing factories could not cope with. While the intention was initially to produce an additional one tonne per hour, during the development of the project it soon became apparent that the hourly requirement was for two tonnes per hour. Since none of the existing factories could handle the increase, a new processing department was constructed near the company’s confectionery factory in Yashkino. This enables KDV to control the full cycle of production from growing to processing and shipping. The partnership between KDV and Ishida dates back to the early 2000s, when KDV acquired a snack factory in the city of Vladimir, where Ishida equipment had been already installed for bread croutons and potato chips packing. It was the accuracy and reliability of these machines that convinced KDV to continue using Ishida equipment.
As a part of the new potato chips packing line, specifically designed in conjunction with Heat & Control processing equipment, the line is fully integrated and the Ishida bagmakers machines are therefore able to work to full capacity and maximum efficiency.
From the very start, the Ishida bagmakers were able to demonstrate their flexibility and adaptability. During installation, KDV decided that it needed to pack a wider variety of target weights than had initially been specified when the machines were ordered.
Ishida engineers were able to solve this problem with the introduction of special forming tubes for different types of bags, and this continues to give KDV the ability to introduce new bag sizes or product varieties without major additional investment.
The Ishida packing line comprises a 16 head Ishida multihead weigher integrated with the company’s Atlas ECO snack food bagmaker, which is able to achieve high speeds for even such a difficult product as potato crisps. The weigher operates in twin mode, with two sets of eight heads weighing the snack products simultaneously at speeds of up to 95 bags per minute per side.
The Ishida Atlas bagmaker incorporates a single rotary jaw motion and superior control technology, which minimises product waste, film loss and downtime for film changes. An innovative sealing unit creates tight horizontal and back seals of the bag without wrinkles even during high-speed packing. The Atlas also effectively controls product charge, reliably stripping any remaining product from the seal area and also preventing product from being blown upward. The whole efficiency of the Ishida packing line is around 98%.
Pressure, temperature and sealing time can be easily set on the Remote Control Unit (RCU) to match the production speed and film characteristics, creating optimum seals for any film.
The bagmaker’s user-friendly and easy-to-maintain design is simple to set up and operate and a unique auto film splicing feature reduces product changeover times by up to 10%.
Video presentation of the Ishida Atlas bagmaker
Currently the four Ishida bagmakers at KDV are handling a variety of leading brands, including Crispy Potato, Pro Chips and Fun Chips in pack sizes ranging from 40g to 160g. Across the four lines, the machines pack 20 tonnes of product in every shift, with giveaway never any more than 2% of target. On a 65g bag, for example, deviations range from just 0.5g under to 0.7g over.
Reliability has been excellent with KDV reporting no breakdowns since the lines first began operating in 2012. Currently the factory operates five days per week in 10 hour shifts but during high season it runs 24 hours. Thanks to the ease of operation of the bagmakers and their easy cleaning features, product changeovers take no more than 15 minutes. Another benefit of the twin design is that one side of the weigher is able to continue to operate while the film is being changed on the other side, meaning production can be maintained and throughput maximised.
Mr. Vladimir Grankin, KDV Group’s technical director:
“Undoubtedly the major benefits of the Ishida bakmakers for us are their excellent reliability and high productivity that allow to us to respond to market demand for our products”
“In terms of technical support during the installation and operator training, the level of service is excellent. The bagmakers are easy to operate and maintain and this is another key advantage for us.
“Ishida produces equipment that always satisfies the technical requirements of our packaging. The ability to fully automate the weighing and bagging process has enabled us to further enhance the quality of our products.
“Indeed, due to the success of our relationship, we develop new projects only with Ishida.”
Therefore, it is no surprise that the company is already in discussion with Ishida for a number of new developments for both snacks and confectionery.
