A 'Spiroflow Aero-Mechanical Conveyor was the natural choice for Pataks Foods Ltd when choosing a conveyor for the upgrade and expansion of their ingredients handling systems, at their Leigh, Lancashire factory, earlier this year. As Projects Manager, Ray Brown, confirms, "We did our homework and concluded that an Aero-Mechanical Conveyor was what we needed. We talked to several suppliers and chose Spiroflow because they offered us the best deal. We are well satisfied with the performance of the equipment and the support we got from Spiroflow".

The 3 metre long Spiroflow Aero-Mechanical Conveyor is used to transfer a host of ingredients from the warehouse, through a wall and into wheeled bins in the cookhouse. These ingredients are many and varied, ranging from coconut milk powder to kibbled onions. They are manually emptied from bags-in-boxes. Typically, well over a hundred bags of ingredients are emptied into the conveyor every day.

Today, Pataks has more than 300 employees at their Leigh factory, and their products are distributed internationally to more than 40 countries. The Leigh factory was a significant investment in state of the art food processing facilities which, at 164,000 sq ft, is believed to be the largest Indian food factory in the world. It was officially opened on 1st February 2002 by Cherie Booth QC. The factorys output is impressive: using 2,700 tonnes of spices from around the world, together with other ingredients, they produce over 1 million snacks, over 1.5 million ready meals and 30 million jars of sauce a year. To achieve this they are currently working 24 hours for 5 days a week.

When asked why they selected an Aero-Mechanical Conveyor, Ray Brown advises that they needed a cost effective conveyor capable of self-emptying - to ensure that everything that is introduced into the inlet comes out at the other end - an essential attribute when making up accurate batches of ingredients to guarantee the quality and flavours for which Pataks are renowned.

The Spiroflow Aero-Mechanical Conveyor supplied to Pataks is of stainless steel construction and is complete with interlocked, quick-release hatches to the sprocket housings. These facilitate easy cleaning. The conveyor has an integral feed hopper with vibrating air pad to promote the flow of ingredients into the conveyor. The top of the hopper has a shelf and mesh grill to enable bags of material to be opened and tipped with ease.

To learn more about Spiroflow Aero-Mechanical Conveyors, and their ranges of Flexible Screw Conveyors, Pneumatic Conveyors and Vacuum Conveyors and also about their Big Bag Fillers and Big Bag Dischargers too, contact SPIROFLOW LTD, Clitheroe, Lancs.

Tel: +44 (0)1200 422525 Fax: 01200 429165

E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Web: www.spiroflow.com .

To learn more about Pataks, their products and their history visit www.pataks.co.uk

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