A large, multinational bakery in the UK was having difficulty with the flexible sleeve connecting a weigh hopper and dough mixer. Inaccuracy in fitting meant load cells were affected and each time an hour of lost production was spent adjusting the connector to ensure accurate tare weight. Installing BFM® flexible fittings has saved them over £40,000 in lost production.
bakery_beforeBEFORE

The Challenge

The traditional hose-clip fastening of the flexible connector feeding from the weigh hopper to the dough mixer was very fiddly to install. The potential for the connector to be fitted too tightly meant it interfered with the load cells and the lost time to refit it to to ensure weigh accuracy was extremely time costly in lost production. There was also significant dust leakage which was a potential COSHH compliance issue and required ongoing additional cleaning costs.
bakery_afterAFTER

The Solution

By installing a BFM® fitting, the snap-fit, self-locating sleeve ensures consistent flexibility to prevent interference with load cells. The traditional sleeves were being replaced every 3 months with over 3 hours’ downtime per annum. Since installing the BFM® fitting, they have had 18 months with no downtime. The 100% dust tight seal of the BFM® fitting also means that the factory environment is much cleaner and the cleaning bills have also been greatly reduced.

The Benefits:

downtime

Downtime

Fast and efficient cleaning in between product runs means downtime has been significantly reduced.
 
hygiene

Hygiene

There is no more dust leakage, eliminating cross contamination of products and reducing general housekeeping costs.
 
installation

Installation

The simple snap-fit of the BFM® makes changeovers easy, and standard length always fits correctly - no metering accuracy issues.
 
health and safety

Health & Safety

No need for tools to remove or install the connector in difficult positions means its much safer for staff to change-over.