Spice up the powder equipment

To gain ISO accreditation of its manufacturing process, spice firm Edward Beharry needed to automate the equipment at its plant at Georgetown, Guyana.

Its curry powder is a blend of some 10 or more spices, which used to need separate grinding and sifting before blending. The process was labour intensive, dusty, hazardous and conducive to spills, causing waste.

Powder process equipment manufacturer, Kemutec designed a package that begins by pre-mixing spices in a Gardner 1250HE ribbon blender, then grinding them in a Kek 2H universal mill and sifting them through two Kek K800C centrifugal sifters to confirm the grind profile. The in-spec product is then conveyed to a post-grind Gardner 1250HE blender for final homogenising.

The new system incorporates easy cleaning between major recipe changes, resulting in less downtime due to cleaning.

Since the installation, Beharry has noticed a dramatic increase in output and significant reduction in manual labour.

Raymond Ramsaroop, Beharry production executive, says: "The new system produces much more control and consistency. We would have found it difficult to secure ISO 9001-2000 registration without it."

Kemutec Tel: 01625 412000