Exclusive: Maestrani Swiss confectionery manufacturer reports success upgrading its lines

With the cost of new confectionery manufacturing continuing to represent a major financial outlay, Swiss chocolate manufacturer, Maestrani has reported continued success in reviving and updating its existing WDS machinery, writes Neill Barston.

As the company noted, when production line start to show their age amid advances in technology, plant operators are often faced with a difficult decision on operating requirements.

While complete replacement of confectionery or snacks processing with a total solution remains an option for some larger and medium businesses, the associated costs of such a move represents a high outlay. 

As Confectionery Production has previously reported with a number of instances, companies often opt to retain and modernise existing equipment – as did the Swiss confectionery manufacturer Maestrani, which operates a WDS shell moulding line, type 471, since 1987.

Notably, as the company observes, WDS confectionery machines are characterised by their highly durable, robust mechanics. Even after many years in operation, the chocolate production plant at Maestrani continues to run reliably.

As the business explains, to ensure future availability of the plant, a decision was made to carry out comprehensive modernisations. By gradually replacing all key system components, the existing plant mechanics are being brought up to date at all critical points.

To begin with, the general scope of the modernisation steps was agreed in close coordination between WDS and Maestrani. The individual measures are then commissioned one at a time. This allows the customer considerable flexibility in allocating their budget.

As early as 2020, the filling depositor machine was replaced with a depositor machine from the latest generation. In the following years, modernisation measures were commissioned for the final cooler, scales, scrapers, mould empty control and top depositor machine.

Furthermore, as the company noted, implementation took place in close coordination with WDS and was flexibly adapted to production circumstances. This allows non-production periods, such as Christmas or Easter breaks, to be used highly effectively in order to minimise downtime for installation work.

For the necessary disassembly, installation and start-up, fitters, electricians and operating personnel from both companies work hand in hand. Thomas Kleppel, WDS Regional Sales Manager and overseer of the project, praises the reliable partnership with the customer: “A modernisation project of this scale and duration confirms the strong business relationship between Maestrani and WDS, characterised by excellent coordination and constructive cooperation. The initial measures have been successfully implemented, and we are continuously working on the remaining steps.”

Thanks to the modernisation measures, the operational reliability of the existing plant is secured for a long service life. The conversion measures have also introduced user-friendly and process-optimising plant components. The conversion to EasyClean components – for example, at the depositor sections or the scraper – enables rapid changeover of components that come into contact with the product mass, which previously required significantly more production downtime with the older components.

In this way, the existing shell moulding line is being modernised over the coming years into a competitive, state-of-the-art plant.

Speaking on the project to revive its existing machine line, Carsten Engelhardt Leader of Engineer, commented: “Thanks to the modular expansion, which WDS is also able to implement flexibly in terms of timing and sequence, we are able to continue developing our plant year by year.

“The criteria for each forthcoming modernisation step are based on maintenance needs and gains in efficiency. With WDS, we have a highly reliable and valued partner for the planning, execution and start-up of these upgrade steps in a short time frame. By coordinating the schedules with existing maintenance windows and/or holiday periods, we are able to avoid production interruptions.”