Black Forest ham specialities are staying fresh for longer thanks to modern vacuum packaging

Busch Vacuum Solutions has installed an additional vacuum system for German firm Schwarzwaldhof to cope with a recent increase in production capacities.

Schwarzwaldhof of Blumberg is located in the Black Forest and produces all kinds of Black Forest ham and sausage specialities, as well as raw cured products. Its modern production buildings process only the best quality raw materials from the region. Schwarzwaldhof also demands the highest quality when it comes to the vacuum supply of its packaging lines, and for years has been using a central vacuum supply from Busch Vacuum Solutions.

However, a recent increase in production capacities made it necessary to expand the vacuum supply – a challenge intelligently implemented by the two companies. Now an additional, especially energy-efficient vacuum system, supplies production at Schwarzwaldhof with the vacuum it needs.

Since 1969, ham and sausage products have been processed and packaged ready for sale, and as early as 2004, the vacuum pumps, which were still installed directly in the packaging machines up to this point, were banned from the production area. For this reason, the first central vacuum system from Busch was installed in a separate machine room. This not only significantly reduced noise emissions and eliminated exhaust air from the production area, but it also quickly proved to be of great benefit in terms of the maintenance of the vacuum system.

Maintenance personnel were now able to carry out maintenance outside of the production area which was a huge advantage in terms of hygiene. In addition, the packaging process was no longer impaired, as maintenance could be carried out during ongoing operations.

The centralised vacuum system used until recently, supplied ten packaging lines, which are equipped with both thermoforming machines and rotary machines, and on which vacuum packaging is carried out under protective gas (MAP) such as CO2 or N2.

Last year, the central vacuum system was expanded to cope with increased consumer demand which had led to more and more packaging machines being used. Bernd Goder, head of industrial engineering at Schwarzwaldhof, relied on Busch to expand the vacuum capability. Busch suggested a dry vacuum supply that offers high energy efficiency. The new system consists of MINK claw vacuum pumps, COBRA screw vacuum pumps and PANDA vacuum boosters.

Schwarzwaldhof has since also signed up for a full-service maintenance contract with Busch and fully relies on the vacuum specialists for maintenance. The dry solution also significantly reduced maintenance costs.

All vacuum pumps on the new, second vacuum supply are equipped with a variable speed drive. This enables the pumping speed of a vacuum pump to be adapted exactly to the actual requirements of the packaging process. With a variable speed drive, vacuum pumps can be automatically adjusted to match variations in vacuum demand precisely.

By compensating for such fluctuations in demand, Schwarzwaldhof was able to benefit from high energy savings.

A total of 15 packaging lines are supplied with vacuum. Further packaging lines are already planned at the company and these can be supplied with vacuum from the two central systems without any problems.

Bernd Goder is extremely satisfied with the new central vacuum system and appreciates the flexibility he now has with the vacuum supply during maintenance work. Since energy management is a top priority at Schwarzwaldhof and people are always looking for potential improvements, the energy saving aspect of the new vacuum supply has been a decisive advantage.

Tel: 01952 677432
Website: www.busch.co.uk