Vibra Screw Bin Discharger and VersiFeeder Achieve Sweet Success at Smarties Candy Co.

Customer:
The Smarties Candy Company was founded in 1949 by Edward Dee. Originally known as CE DE Candy Co., Smarties Candy Co. is the purveyor of the famous hard candy rolls that are enjoyed by millions and are sold worldwide. They have two factories located in Toronto, Canada and Union, New Jersey. The Problem: At their Union NJ facility, Smarties stores dextrose in a 12’ diameter silo and needs to reliably and accurately feed a dilute phase pneumatic conveying line which supplies the manufacturing process. Originally the material packed in the bottom of the silo so it was fitted with air injectors to promote flow from storage to the conveying line. Flow was still erratic and unreliable and frequent manual probing of the silo was required to get the material to discharge.

The Solution:
In 2006, the bottom section of the silo, the compaction zone, was removed and replaced with a 6’ Vibra Screw Bin Discharger. The Bin Discharger is flexibly attached to the bin and vibrated to generate immediate flow on demand. Beneath the Bin Discharger, the company installed a 6” Vibra Screw VersiFeeder to accurately meter the flow from the bin into the pneumatic conveying line. The VersiFeeder employs controlled vibration to maintain uniform material density and to completely fill and empty each flight of the screw.

Results:
Smarties was able to achieve trouble free discharge and feeding to the conveying line at 6000 lbs/hr. The Vibra Screw Bin Discharger/VersiFeeder combination eliminated the need to manually prod the bin and the consistent feed from the VersiFeeder enables the conveying line to work efficiently. The Bin Discharger/VersiFeeder combination has contributed to Smarties ongoing effort to streamline production and maintain the highest standards of quality control in their products. There are currently thousands of Vibra Screw Bin Discharger/ VersiFeeder systems successfully handling a wide range of materials throughout the process industries. Download Case History