Machine automation to upgrade old presses to impressive standards

Our Client

Cedenco Foods NZ Ltd

Project Scope

Cedenco Foods’ facility in Nelson made apple and fruit juice on three Bucher presses with antiquated relay logic and mimic panels. Operators had problems and efficiency was compromised.

Diagnosing faults and electrical work in the old panels was hazardous, and Cedenco Foods had a limited capacity to optimise and customise processes. Our brief was to make those problems go away. Machine automation was the key.

The CR Automation Solution

We reverse engineered the hydraulic and process controls to identify inefficiencies and limitations, and developed a new ‘smarter’ process in conjunction with the client. The client identified a number of mechanical innovations and we developed unique software to enhance the process.

Our ‘factory floor’ experience added innovation to the delivery of the pomace to the plant and we automated delivery from the press to the peripheral process equipment.

The results

Cedenco Foods have been able to optimise the yield of the juice from the presses increasing it by approximately 25%. Smaller simpler control interfaces for operators have reduced their training time. We also added process consistency through automation which is essential in the food and beverage industry.