Paul Mayman, area engineering manager for Fox's Biscuits, says: "One of the major advantages is having the flexibility to run at different speeds. We have a lot of other ingredients in our biscuits, such as fruit. Previously, the mixers might have overmixed, which leads to staining, where the fruit becomes a mush rather than remaining whole. Now we can maintain a high-quality product and avoid the situation where a whole 400kg batch of dough could be wasted."
The ability of the drive to change the speed of the mixer also enables the biscuit manufacturer to be more innovative.
"With the drive controlled mixer, we can experiment by using different speeds throughout the mix, from as low as two rpm to 50 or 60rpm, depending on the recipe."
The ABB standard drive also gave a cut in energy use of 30%.
Contact: ABB