Syntegon prepares for major equipment demonstrations at ProSweets 2024

Germany’s Syntegon, is priming itself for next month’s ProSweets event in Cologne, which will demonstrate its core range of confectionery machinery competencies, including kitchen, depositing, and finishing technologies to packaging solutions, writes Neill Barston.

The company, which recently emerged with honours from the World Confectionery Conference, will be exhibiting in hall 10.1 at booth H-009, between 28-31 January, and will offer visitors the chance to experience highlights of the line solution, such as the fully automated oiling drum Makat BC96 that will be presented on a show for the first time.

It will be joining nearly 250 businesses operating within the confectionery industry at this year’s ProSweets, which returns to its full four-day format, after appearing in a shorter special edition earlier this year amid industry supply chain challenges, that have reportedly eased to some degree towards the end of 2023.

Moreover, Syntegon presents a high-speed packaging line with a new vertical packaging innovation SVX Duplex. This can be experienced in a series of live demonstrations on the stand, which aims to showcase its advanced capabilities.

As the business noted, its Makat BC96 series has been devised for next level production, responding to the notion that the more process steps manufacturers automate, the more stable and reliable their production becomes as a whole. Product finishing is the last process step during the production of gummies and jellies – but not less important than the previous process steps. It still influences the quality of the packaged gummies in the shelf.

“Many confectionery producers are facing the challenge of varying product quality and line performance in different production shifts as well as a lack of skilled personnel. Centerlining features and automation can help to overcome this issue, not only for the kitchen or depositing line, but also for the finishing equipment. That was our motivation to develop our new Makat BC96” declares Dr. Sandra Link, Product Manager at Makat.

The fully automated oiling drum Makat BC96 has several centerlining features and recipe management for a lower process variability. Via a Human Machine Interface (HMI) operators can set individual target values for the different production parameters and save them in a product recipe to call up the data as required.

This way, gummy and jelly manufacturers can achieve more reliable processes, which not only lead to a higher product quality, but also to a higher OEE, reduced product waste and fast product changeovers. Furthermore, it enables product specific parameter settings and individual treatment of the gummies.

Sensors facilitate process monitoring and preventive error detection at the oiling process. Integrated software immediately detects deviations and reports them to the operator. “This allows operators to keep supervising their processes and avoid process disturbances or at least to early initiate troubleshooting. For a continuously high product quality and a running production“, Sandra Link explains.

For further support of the operator the BC96 features an operator-guiding-system. Integrated step-by-step-instruction facilitates for example the start of production or predefined cleaning procedures. Recipe management, centerlining, automation and process monitoring as well as operator guiding of the Makat BC96 align all towards shared goals: an enhancement of the process reliability, a higher quality of gummies, less waste and a high uptime of the machine.

When it comes to packaging the SVX Duplex is part of the newly launched vertical packaging series called SVX. The core of the machine is a cross-seal drive consisting out of four independently controlled servo motors. It enables an output on the SVX Duplex of up to 600 bags per minute. In terms of design and overall aesthetics the machine stands out due to its front cylinder with curved sliding doors for easy access. Learn more about Syntegon technologies and services and meet the experts from January 28 to 31 at ProSweets 2024 in Cologne. Syntegon supports manufacturers in the efficient processing and primary and secondary packaging of confectionery with a comprehensive range of consulting services. For a personal exchange with the confectionery experts, visit Syntegon in hall 10.1 at stand H009 at ProSweets.