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Case Study: Changeover Times Reduced by over 75% for Packaging Company

Richard Whittaker Image 2 - BFM® fitting installed on Richard Whittaker Ltd packing line 600 x 400

[FOOD] 75% Downtime Reduction at Changeovers Since Installing BFM®’s

Richard Whittaker Ltd is a UK-based specialist blending, packaging and dried food ingredient supply company operating 24 hours a day.

Their packaging lines can change products up to 10 times per week, requiring a full equipment cleaning procedure to be undertaken each time. All flexible connectors needed to be removed and replaced as part of this process, but the company used disposible connectors, fastened with difficult-to-fit hose-clamps.

Changeover time took more than 20 minutes and the company was looking to improve efficiency of their product line changes, and also find a more sustainable connector option.

The Challenge

The plant used clear ‘carrier-bag-like’ connectors held in place with jubilee clips and these were both difficult and time consuming to replace.  The connectors are located over 3m off the ground so access is challenging, and the time to remove and replace the connectors was around 20 minutes per product change.  

The nature of the clamped connectors meant they did not seal fully and failed regularly.  They also could only be used once and were disposed of each changeover. 

Richard Whittaker’s were keen to reduce their downtime by improving their product changeovers, and also wanted to find a more sustainable option than their disposable, single-use flexible connectors.

Richard Whittaker Image 1 - Single use carrirer bag like clamp banded connectors

The BFM® Solution

Local BFM® fitting distributor, ProSpare Ltd, recommended installing BFM® fitting’s durable Seeflex 040E BLUEBAND™ connector systems on two of their main packing lines.  

The fast and easy snap-fit of the BFM® fitting has meant that, since installing the connectors, the average changeover time has been reduced by 75% to around 5 minutes - most of which is simply gaining access to the connector location! This has saved the company approximately 250 hours per year.

The BFM® fitting connectors are also lasting approximately 3 years in contrast to the single use, disposable predecessors which were disposed of each product change, saving around 1,000 connectors per year.

Richard Whittaker Image 3 - BFM® fitting Seeflex connector typically lasts up to 3 years-1

Benefits Achieved

BFM® Quick Changeovers Icon in BlueFaster Changeovers

There are going to be far less replacements and product clean-ups required, so downtime has been drastically reduced.

 

BFM® Reduced Downtime Icon in BlueLess Downtime

250 hours of downtime are being saved each year because of the faster snap-fit changeovers of the BFM® fitting system.

BFM® Durable Icon in BlueMore Durability

The Seeflex 040E connectors are lasting over three years in contrast to the single use connectors previously used.

BFM® No Product Loss Icon in BlueNo Product Loss

The internal fit of the BFM® fitting has ensured there are no leaks so the product stays inside the process and the plant is much cleaner.

 

Here's what the client said about BFM®:

 

“I like that the BFM® allows us to visually see the product flowing through the line and how well it contains the products, but most importantly it’s how fast and easy it is to replace because of the simple snap-fit installation.

From a maintenance perspective, it saves us hours of time per week on downtime and cleaning.”

- Maintenance Manager, Richard Whittaker Ltd

Case Study provided courtesy of BFM® Distributor ProSpare Limited  (United Kingdom)

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