Intralox Blancher Belt Solution Proves Significant Advantages over Competition for Oerlemans Foods

Oerlemans switches to Intralox belting in its blanching application to benefit from easier maintenance and repair and fewer maintenance hours.

Background

Oerlemans Foods is a grower, producer, and supplier of freshly frozen vegetables, fruit, and potato products that reach consumers in over fifty countries. The Oerlemans plant in Waalwijk, Netherlands, produces mostly frozen spinach for seven to eight months out of the year, supplementing production with sprouts, red cabbage, peas, and other vegetables. Their blancher belt, which inputs five tons (six tons maximum) of dry spinach at a time, moves at an average speed of 2.1 meters per minute.

Problem

Oerlemans began experiencing many problems with their previous blancher belt after only one year of operation. Issues of concern included frequent breaking modules and excessive maintenance and repair of both belt and component materials. Additionally, belt engagement problems were so severe that they repositioned the belt 180 degrees.

Solution

At the end of 2006, Oerlemans worked with Intralox’s team of specialists to not only replace their blancher belt, but also to retrofit/rework their blancher in order to achieve optimal performance. They installed Intralox’s best belt solution for blanching and effective draining of spinach.

Results

Since installing the Intralox solution, Oerlemans has achieved improved product drainage and minimized risk of contamination and breakdown due to belt breakage. The easy replacement of Intralox belt modules facilitates easy maintenance and repair in only a fraction of the time previously required, significantly lowering maintenance hours for the plant.

“With Intralox, the maintenance required to change a module only costs me five minutes maximum; before, this used to require at least twenty minutes—which is valuable time during production,” said Yves Huijbregts, Head of Oerlemans Technical Department.