Success brings its own rewards

Devonvale, a manufacturer of cereal bars, was founded 12 years ago and has grown steadily until this year when demand suddenly accelerated from around 12,000 cereal bars a day to over 20,000; an increase of almost 70%.

Most companies would be ecstatic with such an increase in sales, especially in current market conditions, but, for Devonvale, it brought the problem of increasing production in its relatively small production unit.

The existing ingredient preparation and mixing equipment was able to handle the higher production as were the ovens but the existing wrapping line was already running at full capacity and an additional line, complete with end of line metal detection, had to be installed in the smallest space possible.

Having installed a compact metal detector from S+S Inspection on the first packing line seven years ago, Keith Upham, managing director for Devonvale, was impressed by the reliability of the system which had suffered only one fault and needed only one belt replacement since being installed. Even so, he looked at all the systems available on the UK market but all, except the S+S Ecoline D, were too long to fit in the available space. The S+S system is unusual in that it requires an exceptionally small metal free zone and is only 750mm long making it ideal for Devonvale’s new packing line. Like the earlier version, the Ecoline D complies with IFS and HACCP and meets all the hygiene requirements of the food industry.

“The proven reliability of our first S+S metal detector combined with good technical service made choosing the new version of very easy. When our original metal detector needed a new circuit board in the control unit S+S quickly installed a new board. I was expecting a hefty bill but was pleasantly surprised when we were only charged for repairing the faulty board,” says Keith Upham, “

With the new packing line with end-of-line metal detection installed and running smoothly, Devonvale is now able to easily meet the growing demand for its products, at least until the next surge in demand.