which led to a 75% reduction in the time it takes to clean their trays
Rhima has just installed a large tray washer into a Nelson based contract manufacturer of nutraceuticals (i.e. dietary supplements, complementary medicine, and therapeutic goods).
Alaron, established in 1993, is a fast growing company, well established as New Zealand’s leading private label, custom contract manufacturer. GMP and CTFA certified, all their processes optimise control and co-ordination of the manufacturing process to ensure product quality and rapid product turn around.
Alaron process a range of raw materials for its customers nutraceutical products these include fish, meat, game, shellfish, game meat, dairy and bee products.
They have a risk management programme (RMP) with the NZ food safety authority (audited by NZMPI) which requires high level of cleanliness of the equipment they use.
In the past they had to clean the large stainless-steel trays in their freeze-drying process by hand which was a time consuming and repetitive task. After investigating several options, they decided Rhima was the best partner to provide their washing solution.
Rhima provided a large tunnel washer that allows the long stainless-steel freeze dry trays to be washed quickly. The machine can quickly and repetitively clean the trays. Another advantage is, that as the machine has a hot wash the trays flash dry quickly, which leads to quicker turnaround times.
Nigel Gray, Alaron’s operations manager said the upgrade to automated washer has led to a 75% reduction in the time it takes to clean their trays.
Rhima designed the washer to suit the particular requirements of the application, firstly the machine to fit down a narrow corridor had to be delivered in two pieces and re-joined once in the room. The conveyor belt has a raised section so that the trays pass through the washer on a slight angle reducing the pooling of water. Furthermore, as some of the trays are over 1m long a curtained “neutral or drip” section was installed so the issue of mixing the wash water with the rinse water was solved.
The install happened just before the lockdown which had its own challenges, but Nigel said “We were really happy with the communication and the installation. The team went out of their way to accommodate us. I would highly recommend them as a supplier and provider of quality equipment.”
Overall, the installation has allowed Alaron to increase uptime and reduce washing backlogs. It has provided a SOP (standard operating procedure) to ensure the quality of the washing and meet audit requirements.
At Alaron, taking control of quality has always been their number one priority. For more information on Alaron https://www.alaron.co.nz/
Product: Custom Tray tunnel washer