Floveyor and Sieve for Flour and Corn Production

Our customer supplies high quality flour and corn based products into sandwich manufacturers and the foodservice sector. They have a number of manufacturing sites both in the UK and overseas and have a global supply chain.

The Task

The production process entails a number of powdered ingredients being emptied into a mixing vessel at high level. To date this has been accomplished manually by use of a platform to gain access to the mixer opening. An operator would be tasked with carrying bags of ingredients up the mixer, opening and then emptying the bag.

This was causing problems on two fronts. Firstly, with regard to safe handling whilst accessing stairs and secondly, due to contaminants entering the mixer whilst opening the bag – bits of bag, bag string, etc.

Prior to it’s investment in Gough handling systems, the customer had looked at other methods of transporting the product – vacuum conveying, pressure blowing, screw conveying and all were found to be lacking. Through previous interaction with the client Gough was asked evaluate the problem and provide a solution.

The Solution

The brief was simple: provide an ‘all-in-one’ mobile unit which could screen product before discharging at height within a given time period. We therefore set our design team the task of coming up with a solution. After consultation with the customer we determined that the best equipment for the task would be an aeromechanical handling system mated to a vibratory batch sieve on a mobile platform.

Since early 2018 Gough has been proud to be associated with Floveyor an Australian manufacturer and original concept designer of aeromechanical handling systems. This joint venture has enabled our company to offer another conveying and handling solution to our customers with the benefit of over 60 years product handling expertise from our partner in Australia.

Following detailed discussing and evaluation with our customer a design was finalised and system produced. The initial unit met every brief offering better productivity, simplicity and ease of use and ensured safe product handling. The Gough sieve allows any contaminants to be captured at point of entry and the Floveyor aeromechanical conveyor transports product quickly and efficiently to the high level discharge point with no loss or spillage. The fact that the unit is mobile and easily cleaned means that it can be used elsewhere within the production environment.

Our customer was so pleased with the initial unit that a further two units were purchased with the potential to role the design concept out to all of their other manufacturing facilities.