New Oliver Douglas cleaning system enhances production throughput and efficiency at Discovery Foods

The cleaning of food manufacturing products to match a high volume throughput while optimising manpower usage, are key benefits now arising from a new Oliver Douglas installation for specialist food manufacturer, Discovery Foods. A stand-alone Panamatic 800 industrial washer is now operational at the Milton Keynes site, which is dedicated to the production of tortillas and wrap breads, for which the manufacturer has a leading reputation in both the retail and business-to-business food sectors.

Producing up to 1.3 million products per day, a total of five dual production lines are operational at the site, each of which utilises a wide range of food manufacturing equipment. This includes stainless steel and plastic rounding drums, utensils and both rubber and plastic moving belts – all of which are now cleaned regularly using the Oliver Douglas Panamatic installation.

“Equipment is moved via a trolley to a dedicated cleaning area where it is loaded into a purpose-designed tray – also developed by Oliver Douglas – and rolled into the front of the Panamatic unit,” comments Brian Clarke, Quality Manager at Discovery Foods.

He points out that, because the wash programme is automatic, workers can be released for other duties while the system runs through its pre-programmed sequence. “This is a significant step forward when compared with the time intensive manual jet wash procedures that were used before the Oliver Douglas installation,” he continues.

Once the programme has run, the tray is extracted from the opposite side of the Panamatic for return to the production area. “This twin door design enables the clean and dirty product areas to be kept separate, which clearly has a beneficial impact on process quality,” adds Brian Clarke.

The stainless steel Panamatic 800 industrial washer is the largest of three units in the dedicated washing machine range manufactured by Oliver Douglas for the food industry. Electrically heated and thermostatically-controlled, cleaning is achieved via rotating spray arms, enabling all wash areas to be accessed.

“It was important to Discovery Foods that the full range of materials, including stainless steel, plastic and rubber, could be handled by the one unit,” says Paul Careless, Sales Manager at Oliver Douglas. “This is a highly intensive operation that runs 24 hours per day and we are delighted that our equipment design is helping to build on the efficiency of this key part of Discovery Foods’ manufacturing process,” he adds.

Part of the Paulig Group, which has had a leading reputation in the food services sector for some 135 years, the name of Discovery Foods has become synonymous with specialist products of the highest quality. The decision to specify the Oliver Douglas unit not only reflects on the manufacturer’s commitment to an important area of production, but also on the throughput versatility that is central to food production at the Milton Keynes site.