Premium cake maker benefits from Ishida technology

Pfalzgraf Konditorei is taking advantage of Ishida’s technology to precisely dose fruit toppings onto its cakes and tortes, which helps it meet stringent quality standards.

The German manufacturer of cakes for the foodservice industry has installed an Ishida 6-head linear multihead weigher, which has reduced overfilling to practically zero; a  DACS-G checkweigher for regional weight compliance; and an IX-GA-4075 x-ray inspection system that is capable of detecting foreign bodies with a diameters of less than 1mm.

The 6-head fresh food weigher (FFW) was specifically developed by Ishida for sticky fresh products and smaller production batches.

Product is delivered via a conveyor belt to the top of the weigher. An operator evenly distributes the fruit via six belt feeders to the weigh hoppers, and can visually inspect the fruit at the same time.

Once they have been weighed, the fruit portions are filled directly onto the tortes and cakes through a small filling system.

Pfalzgraf Konditorei handles a wide range of products on the FFW in a two-shift operation. The baked goods are topped with raspberries, strawberries, forest fruits, mandarins and a variety of fruit mixtures. The fill weights range from 240 g to 2500 g with a maximum speed of 16 cycles per minute.

According to production manager Stephan Koller, the weigher has increased productivity significantly. “The old volumetric dosing method placed 20 to 30 g too much fruit on each product,” he explains.  “Now, overfilling is practically zero.”