Ceepackaging

Profiles

Saving dough

Founded in 1902, Richmond Baking grew from a small local bakery in Indiana to an internationally known cookie and cracker manufacturer with products found on shelves throughout the US, Canada, Japan and Australia.

Now one of the largest baking houses in the United States, Richmond Baking not only produce cookies and crackers for retail sale, their product range extends to the production of industrial ingredients for coating systems used by the meat, poultry, fish, vegetable and dessert industries.

William Quigg first called upon TNA two years ago to increase the bagging speed of his cookie production line.

“Initially we ran used Bosch baggers under new Ishida scales,” he said. “The scales maintained desired throughputs, but the baggers which were intended for large cereal bags did not have the bag-per-minute (bpm) rate required. We needed a minimum 90bpm to maintain efficiency.”

“A colleague told me about TNA’s high output equipment so we decided to put them to the test. The two baggers we purchased actually exceeded capacity needs and we were able to consistently average 120bpm,” Mr Quigg said.

“The success of the first expansion project meant we could prove our capability in the vertical bagged product industry,” said Richmond Baking’s William Quigg.

Out of that first upgrade came a long-term contract to produce 14.2g bags of crackers, which necessitated a further expansion in line capacity of 300%. Based on the positive results of the first upgrade, TNA were the first choice for equipment.

The line expansion program at Richmond Baking was in two parts.

Part one included the installation of two TNA ROBAG 3 baggers under existing Ishida scales. Part two saw an additional four ROBAG 3 machines installed under a new TNA ROFLO Distribution System feeding TNA combination scales.

According to William Quigg, the most significant benefits of the line expansion project are increased capacity and higher throughputs. He is also impressed by the engineering of the equipment.

“TNA really shine in functional design,” he said. “The engineering and foresight in the design of the ROBAG 3 is very impressive. They seem to live by the ‘simple is better’ philosophy because their design is straightforward and the equipment accomplishes the desired tasks effectively and efficiently.”

“And they certainly know how to put together a good system,” he added, “from product distribution through to specially designed scales, metal detectors, date coders and, most importantly, the ROBAG 3. Each product is outstanding on an individual basis but it is their integration into a system that sets them apart from their competitors.”

According to Mark Lozano, TNA US National Sales Manager, the TNA ROBAG 3 packs up to 220bpm depending on the environment and the type of material being used – a rate that sets the benchmark for Vertical Form Fill and Seal (VFFS) users throughout the worldwide snack, biscuit, confectionery and general food packaging industries.

“It also enables users to pack products at high speeds with extremely low rejects,” Lozano said.

Since 1982, TNA has earned the respect of the global food packaging industry for its design and manufacture of VFFS machines. With more than 2,000 machines installed world wide, the company has extended its packaging capabilities to powder and fresh produce markets. TNA’s core products, a range of patented ROBAG 3 stand-alone and turn-key systems, are renowned for bagging speed capabilities and efficiency. 

TNA is the leading supplier of turn-key, integrated packaging and processing solutions for food production companies worldwide, with an installed base of over 2000 systems.  TNA’s unique combination of innovative technology, extensive project management experience and 24/7 global support ensures customers achieve faster, more reliable and more flexible packaged food products at lower cost and with less wastage.