Case Study: Biscuits Dupon and Haas Partnership to Produce 18,000 Sugar Cones per Hour in the Spanish Facility
Manufacturer Biscuits Dupon has partnered with Austrian baking technology expert CFT Haas Convenience Food Equipment GmbH to install two CAIMAN-D-300 lines to produce sugar cones in Spain.
Six months after Biscuits Dupon sent an inquiry to Austria’s Franz Haas CFT, the sugar-cone producer endorsed the ordered CAIMAN lines during trial runs at the Haas HQ. A mere ten days after the lines were delivered, Dupon began producing the first batch of sugar cones with the new equipment.
Both Dupon, which belongs to the D’Hoore Group, and Haas are family-run businesses, contributing to the special relationship with a similar mind-set.
“Parameters in production must be absolutely accurate,” said Jordi Juncosa, director of operations at Dupon.
Dupon was looking for a line with outstanding efficiency and performance. Low-cost machines were no option because the company wanted continuous, reliable performance 24 hours a day, five days a week. Dupon never doubted the Haas technology.
With its sophisticated technology, the efficient CAIMAN offers both high capacity and consistent quality. Its flexibility allows the change between various recipes. Dupon has been running the lines for five months and reports that after a few weeks, the ovens were producing the required output of 18,000 cones per hour with low downtimes and little waste—exactly what Dupon expected. Easy handling of the lines is a further aspect: the equipment is very user-friendly, confirms Dupon. The touch panel is logical and easy to operate; the icons require no particular skills. Cleaning intervals are favorable and cleaning is quickly performed, keeping downtimes to a minimum.
A high output rate is insufficient if the quality is lacking, said Juncosa. “The big advantage of CAIMAN equipment is that consistent quality is warranted even at very high output rates, a typical strength of Haas technology”, Juncosa claims.
Easy changeover times were also especially important for the Dupon operation. Depending on customer demand, Dupon needs to offer a variety of taste options. With Haas technology, Dupon can play with recipes because the CAIMAN lines accept different recipes with little modification or change in parameters. “It is a pleasure to be in pole position with Haas, having the latest technology with the best efficiency,” said Juncosa.
Haas project engineer, Harald Zeller, was Dupon’s partner in developing the project from the very beginning. He is especially proud of a tailored solution to meet the client’s requirements: one feeding conveyor was extraordinarily long and twisted, leading to high friction. Harald Zeller’s simple but effective solution was to install two conveyors that transfer the product from one to the other. The unusual length of the production line was a further aspect that needed attention: a passage now enables quick access between the lines.
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