Tims Dairy based in Chalfont St Peter is a private family run company who have been producing award winning yogurt for over 66 years. Originally supplying ethnic delicatessens and restaurants they grew their foodservice business significantly over the years until requests from consumers lead to the launch of a retail range in 2009. This range is available in selected branches of Asda, Budgens and Waitrose, plus farm shops and speciality food shops, and online with Ocado. After significant investment they now have capacity to produce 200 tonnes per week made with fresh British milk and cream delivered daily. The milk is heat treated then combined with live and bio-live cultures to produce a range of Greek style, Wholemilk and Low Fat yogurts, all made with natural ingredients.
To cater for this expansion it was necessary to investigate methods of improving efficiencies and UPM Conveyors were consulted to provide solutions to the end of line yogurt pot tray packing and stacking into stillage’s to ensure a smooth transition of product ready for despatch.
Together they designed a carousel with work stations that incorporated a central packed tray conveyor to allow operators to pack 150 pots per minute into trays which can then be transferred to a stillage via the central conveyor but the complete system needed to comply with severe hygiene standards including full pressure wash down so all construction was stainless steel with electrical controls to IP67.
The system was completed and personnel from Tims Dairy visited UPM for pre delivery inspection allowing the complete unit to be supplied on site ready for immediate operation into production.
Further automation is being considered by Tims Dairy in conjunction with UPM based on the success of this project.
