Sugden Ltd, a leading manufacturer of bakery production lines, is investing in the Spray.xact food high-precision spray lubrication system from liquid technology specialist Technotrans. The first Technotrans units will be used as mobile versions in the British plant manufacturer’s pancake and Multi-Plant lines.

Thanks to the low-mist and compressed-air-free release agent application of the Technotrans lubrication system, Sugden plant users save resources, improve their product quality and prevent unwanted oil residues in the production environment. The lubrication system is to be installed in other Sugden plants in the future, including those for Vanderpol Waffle production.

“Our goal was to completely eliminate the use of compressed air when applying release agents to our heated plate systems”, says George Jackson, Sales Manager at Sugden. “In this way, we offer our customers even more process reliability and control. With the help of the Technotrans solution, we have succeeded in doing just that. In addition, product quality increases and line operators save resources.”

The company develops and manufactures customized industrial baking systems – for English muffins, crumpets and pancakes, among others. In these systems, products are cooked directly on a heated plate to which a release agent is previously applied. When looking for a new and, above all, easy-to-integrate spray lubrication solution, the company opted for a system from Technotrans after only a few test runs.

The challenge in this baking process is, on the one hand, that the release agent is viscous, which makes precise application difficult. On the other hand, conventional, compressed air-driven solutions often produce aerosols that can be inhaled by employees without the use of extraction equipment and can accumulate in the production environment. With the help of the Spray.xact food system, Sugden prevents these problems. The temperature-controlled valves ensure optimum viscosity of the release agent to be applied by means of temperature control, which ensures a precise spray pattern. There is no need for an extraction system, as Spray.xact food spray lubrication does not produce any unwanted mist.

Stuart Packer, New Business Development Manager at Technotrans, also emphasizes the flexibility and adaptability of the system. “With Spray.xact food, customers are able to adjust all relevant parameters from speed to spray quantity according to their needs. Each individual spray valve can be customized in the process.” Technotrans transfers this flexibility to the unit’s design. For Sugden, the company manufactured a mobile version that is mounted on a trolley system and can be moved freely.

Due to the Corona constraints, most of the coordination from project planning to go-live took place virtually. Despite these limitations, George Jackson says the project proceeded in a focused and efficient manner. “The exchange with the Technotrans team and the successful implementation of our requirements quickly convinced us, so the decision was really easy for us.”

Sugden would like to continue the collaboration in the future. The manufacturer plans to integrate the Spray.xact food system on further pancake and Multi-Plant lines, as well as on the Vanderpol Waffle lines the company is currently designing and manufacturing.