Published: 17/11/2021, 11:00
Putting SKF bearings through their paces in the food & drink sector
Ensuring you have the right bearing in place, and investing in a quality product, not only makes your processes run smoothly but can frequently save you both time and money. We came across two great examples in the food sector recently that clearly demonstrate this and we’d like to share them with you.
An international food processing company, that is a long standing Brammer Buck & Hickman customer, benefitted from switching to SKF Food Line Bearing Units at its UK frozen food factory on our recommendation.
The customer was experiencing regular bearings failure, with the bearings being replaced every one to three months, resulting in costly downtime with the added expense of new bearing units being regularly fitted.
Our Insite™ team recommended changing to SKF’s specialist Food Line ball bearings units. This relatively simple change has had remarkable results. There have been no bearing issues for 18 months. This has saved the customer six bearing changes during this time frame, representing a monetary saving of £746.52. Just as importantly, it has reduced downtime by three hours, which the customer costs at £600. The other benefit noted has been the removal of greasing which previously represented the risk of product contamination when the bearing failed.
One of the toughest environments for bearings in the food sector is commercial fryers and in the second example, a Brammer Buck & Hickman customer, one of the UK’s leading crisp and snack food manufacturers, was all too aware of this. The customer was facing frequent bearing failure in its fryers due to the hot oil vapour filled environment which caused them significant losses due to downtime and repair work. Switching to SKF Fryer Bearing Units on our recommendation have made a considerable difference. The life of the new bearings is in excess of 16,000 hours, which represents a significant gain. What’s more, the new bearings do not need to be relubricated after each caustic boil out, which reduces maintenance and lubrication costs.
The SKF solution put forward by Brammer Buck & Hickman has resulted in reduced downtime, trouble-free operation without frequent service intervals and improved productivity. Find out more about this innovative bearing and how it has made annual savings worth £7,500 for the manufacturer.
