Volta Belting, manufacturer and supplier of Thermoplastic Elastomers (TPE) conveyor belting products and services, says that its homogeneous TPE flat belts make the entire cleaning process quick and highly efficient.
The fully extruded, smooth belts allow substantial savings in maintenance, downtime and water. The company says that with its belts, the long soaking time needed to sterilise modular belts or costly cleaning process performed to sanitise plied belts are a thing of the past.
This superior belt material which supports the HACCP concept has proven to be most effective to clean – a brush down with detergents and rinse with water can take less than an hour, showing great savings in labour and downtime. The lightweight belt is easy to lift and clean thoroughly on both sides. These features allow for quick change over between products, converting downtime into production time.
Maintenance costs are cut as the Volta Positive Drive belt’s teeth action reduces slippage and off-tracking. The thermo-welded fabrications ensure a firm bond and create a smooth transfer from base belt onto fabricated flights, guides and easy on-site joins, using state of the art welding tools.
While cutting back on downtime, Volta says its food-approved flat belts will also significantly increase the hygiene level of the entire production line and reduction in bacteria build-up will be seen. The company says it has see an extreme change in market awareness regarding hygiene and product quality and this has become the first priority for many leading food producers.
A hygienic equipment design has a tremendous impact on diminishing the risks of contaminating food during production and improving the shelf life of products. The smooth surface of the Volta belts does not allow bacteria to harbour as there are no cracks, crevices or delaminating layers for dirt to accumulate. With a good hygienic design unwanted microbes are easily removed and the lifetime of the equipment will increase while maintenance and manufacturing costs are reduced.
One of the many case studies Volta has conducted before and after replacing a modular belt with Volta SuperDriveTM belt in a food production plant shows a $30,000 saving in cleaning costs (water, water disposal, detergents, and labour). After 24 months, 50% to 80% savings, as shown in the graph.
The risks of food safety incidents can be reduced by hygienically well-designed plant and equipment. With an increased focus on cost-saving strategies the right conveyor belt can be the key to increasing production profits.
