Instrument cost recouped in a day - PENKO’s new Loss-in-Weight instrument is nothing to sneeze at!

Instrument cost recouped in a day - PENKO's new Loss-in-Weight instrument is nothing to sneeze at!

When one of PENKO Engineering's clients ordered some of the newly-launched FLEX-LIW controllers for their potato chip production line recently, the intention was to install the instruments as 'black box' units inside sealed cubicles, hidden away from the operators.

But when the client's technicians realized the benefit of seeing the clear bright display graphics of FLEX, they immediately changed plans and had the instruments moved to prominent positions on the front of the production line cubicles. The large touch-screen display panel of FLEX offers a choice of visual indication, including fast response coloured bargraphs that can be easily seen from a distance.

The instruments were specifically installed to control the application of Paprika powder to the potato chips as they passed through the machinery. The quantity of Paprika used is critical - not only to maintain flavour, but also to ensure that waste is minimized - and the FLEX instruments are able to measure the weight of powder extremely accurately as it flows from a hopper using the loss-in-weight principle.

Previously, the flow would have been displayed digitally, with the measured values just displayed as rapidly flickering digits. Using FLEX's graphical coloured display, an operator can now tell immediately if the flow is constant and within preset limits (green bargraph) or if there is a problem, such as lumps of powder in the flow which show up as a red warning bargraph, requiring an operator to adjust the flow rate to improve the uniformity of the Paprika coating.

The client confirmed the value of the FLEX controller by stating that, "Installing FLEX enabled our operators to improve the quality of the product, and reduce the amount of Paprika we used to waste in the process. In fact, we estimated that the FLEX paid for itself in Paprika powder saved in just 1 day's production."