FRANZ HAAS take over of DFE Meincke strengthens its position in Global bakery equipment market

Franz Haas has complete portfolio after DFE Meincke takeover


By Rory Harrington, 19-Jan-2010

Franz Haas Waffel said its acquisition of DFE Meincke Holding has given it a complete portfolio, withthe deal set to make it a major global player in the bakery sector.


The Austrian company, a market leader in systems and equipment for the production of wafers, crackers and hard biscuits, told FoodProductionDaily.com that its purchase of a controlling stake in DFE Meincke was a "perfect fit". No financial details of the takeover were available.



The deal, which was agreed just before Christmas and formally ratified on 4 January, saw Franz Haas buy 85 per cent of its rival. The other 15 per cent stake remained in the hands of DFE Meincke’s Frank Muntzberg, who will continue to manage the company as CEO in tandem with the new owner.


Major player


"The strategic vision behind the acquisition is to become a major player in the bakery industry," said Haas Group spokesman Thomas Breg. "Meincke is a perfect fit for us. We are not cannibalizing each other but complementing one another. We specialise in plant systems for crackers and hard biscuits, while Meinke is a leader in soft biscuits and cakes. The acquisition gives us the complete portfolio.“


Breg said the takeover would create synergies in its technical and production departments that will enhance both business efficiency and customer service. The company will now be supplying machines for all aspects of the biscuit market. It pledged to work with DFE Meinke to provide customers with the best know-how in markets that continues to grow.


The company should begin to see the financial benefits of the acquisition by the end of the year, predicted Breg.

The company said it would spend the next three to six months evaluating the implications of the deal but that there were no current proposals for any closures or rationalisation. Breg describe DFE Meincke as a "clever and efficient company“.


Global growth


While R&D was a continued high priority for Franz Haas and DFE Meinke, the company would be focusing its efforts on bedding in operations in the wake of the takeover. Innovations would likely be brought to market to coincide with the Interpack trade show next year, said Breg.


In 2008, Franz Haas posted a turnover of €105m – with Europe and Russia accounting for 54 per cent of this total. Its North American market accounted for a quarter, while the Far East/ Pacific region was just under half this at 12 per cent. Africa accounted for four per cent of turnover, with the Middle East five per cent.


The company said it was now in a position to aim for sustainable global growth.

Source : http://www.bakeryandsnacks.com/

Install in motion Check Weighing machine to eliminate excess weight to the market

While going through the material  consumption variance   report one might like to know the  reasons  for it , One of the major reason in bakery product material variance s is Give aways ( over weight of packed product). Due to faulty setting s  or mechanical issues  in bread production , cake production line or biscuit production lines .
It could be due to Dividers malfunction or Cutter /Moulders setting or configuration . The major steps is to rectify the problem in the equipment first but  for detection purpose bakery plants to set up   in motion checkweighers after packing section  in biscuit manufacturing and checkweighers at dividers end to measure the weight of the dough piece .
Installation of checkweighers  would   make the conventional table top scales obsolete   at some places . These checkweighers helps bakery manufacturers in two ways
Under weight

• You can be  sure of the weights  products which comes through check   weighers  and its legal requirement for all manufacturers to adhere to the declared weight with some tolerance s.

Over weight

• Any variation of weights whether Under weights or Over weights  does harm company interests . Corrections can be done  at manufacturing areas to get the proper  weight of the product

Working Principle of Checkweigher
Work on Pneumatic  applications,  pneumatic cylinders are used for retraction or  folding of conveyors  for rejection of packets. Product s are put on the conveyors which have load cells which gauge s weight and send signals to the  pneumatic cylinders  which  are activated through  .valves  compressed air  then either retracts or pushes the folding conveyor or some checkweighers have pneumatic nozzles on the conveyors surfaces which pushes the under weights and overweights through blast of compressed air   .Which drops the under weight or over weight packets . One has to check  the packing machine output to synchronize  with check  weigher .
Specification of Check weighers

Products/per minutes- packets/min
Set Weights = +/- gms
Tolerances =+/- gms
Air Pressure = kg/cm2
Major manufacturers of  checkweighers
Mettler Toledo
Ishida
Lock Inspection
Sartorius
Wright Machinery
Check weighers now days  have data storage where all details of  weights of the product can be stored and can be  retrieved analysis.
Any variation of weights whether Under weights or Over weights  does harm company interests . Corrections can be done  at manufacturing areas to get the proper  weight of the product.