Pictured: The 14-head Screw Feeder Weigher is set to increase productivity by up to 50% and has freed five employees to help expand production

An Ishida Screw Feeder Weigher, specially designed for the gentle handling of delicate meat products, has significantly increased production for a French delicacies producer by as much as 30%, with further increases expected.

Société Progré is a family company dedicated to producing French regional specialities using mostly locally-sourced meat. Already supplying up to 800 tonnes a year under its own brand names and those of several major distributors, Progré wanted to grasp opportunities to expand into the catering market and to increase its retail business.  

Ishida provided the solution in the form of a Screw Feeder Weigher, the CCW-R-214W-SF, with 14 heads and 1.5 litre hoppers, which was installed at the company's factory in Baraqueville. Automating ProGré's weighing operations offered a way not only of improving efficiency but also of freeing workforce capacity to increase production.

Specially designed for movement-resistant products like freshly-cooked meat, the Ishida weigher has coreless screws which feed the product gently but firmly towards the hopper system. The hoppers themselves have anti-stick surfaces and are fitted with scraper gates to prevent clogging. In combination, these features meet the challenge of handling Progré's carefully prepared meat efficiently while preserving product quality.

Ishida Screw Feeder Weighers are capable of achieving speeds normally associated only with free-flowing products. At Progré, this has meant that 760 and 800g jars are filled at a rate of 28 per minute, with the meat content varying from 150 to 500g, depending on the product. 

Managing Director Jean-Luc Reynié reports that the Ishida multihead has upped production by 30% for tripe products alone. He expects that, overall, productivity of Progré's regional delicacies will easily increase by 50%.

Even more important for ProGré's expansion plans, the Screw Feeder Weigher has greatly reduced manual handling. Five people previously employed weighing meat have been freed to work in other areas of the factory, helping expand the output of such regional specialities as Aveyron tripe, forestière pork, terrines and pâtés.