Eliminating Conveyor Transfers for Frozen Pizzas Can Significantly Reduce Product Loss

The frozen pizza industry is a booming market. Keeping up with the demand means producers are regularly pushing as many as 400 pizzas per minute (24,000 pizzas per hour!) If the conveyor design includes multiple transfer points to reach the sauce applicators, topping applicator, and cheese depositor before going to the primary packaging stage, the risk of product loss increases. Meaning, the more transfers that a pizza has, the more risk that exists for topping loss.  

A transfer system may work with one recipe but once you start playing around with different toppings, you could end up with ingredients scattered all over the conveyor and the floor. A modular conveyor design that guarantees a smooth and gentle motion without the need for transfers can easily overcome these challenges, helping you push as many bases and depositors as needed with limited product loss.

Here's how a transferless conveyor design can help you maintain product integrity through the different production stages and ensure a delicious, frozen pizza leaves the line every time.

Continuous and Transferless Conveyor Designs for Frozen Pizza Applications

Transitions on frozen food conveyors often lead to topping loss and discharge that creates waste and requires rework. A poorly designed transition can also damage the crusts and topping placement. Optimizing the conveyor system to fit in with the existing graters, applicators, and packaging equipment isn’t always feasible using a traditional conveyor design.

For this reason, an edge-driven transferless conveyor makes perfect sense for frozen pizza manufacturers. You can accommodate all your equipment while maintaining the required tension by placing drives wherever you need them throughout the conveyor line and reach any process station with multiple inclines, declines, radial turns, or straight runs as necessary.  

With a continuous conveyor design from Side Drive Conveyor Co., you can maximize Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), increase production throughput, and minimize quality issues on the line. Let’s look at some of the main benefits of a continuous, transferless conveyor design.

Reduction in Product Loss and Waste

Eliminating transfers enables the smooth and gentle movement of each product flowing through the line, without changes in position or orientation. SideDrive Conveyor Co. uses Intralox plastic modular belting to provide better product release properties than metal, making discharges smoother and more precise. It’s also important to consider that historically, stainless steel fragments are a cause of product recalls, like the recent Skippy Peanut Butter recall in March of 2022.  Skippy recalled more than 9,000 cases of peanut butter due to the possibility that jars could contain fragments of stainless steel. 

The entire system, belts included, can also withstand harsh wash-down and sanitizing routines, speeding up your sanitation routines between shifts.

Improved Sanitation across the Production Line

An edge-driven conveyor design doesn’t use side frames in the construction, reducing the number of harborage points on the production line. With fewer harborage points that could lead to contamination, you can ensure your line remains sanitary after every shift.

With a SideDrive Conveyor Co. sanitary conveyor, you’ll use fewer cleaning materials and can reach any portion of the line during wash-down cycles.

Less Maintenance Means More Throughput

Using modular plastic belting, you can increase the belt life and eliminate metal-to-metal friction that may lead to contamination from shavings or lubricants. The drives are easily accessible with open frame construction and you don’t need to change tooling during sanitation.

SideDrive Conveyor Co. provides a truly continuous conveyor design that can withstand a high-throughput frozen pizza production line.

Increase Production Efficiency in Your Frozen Pizza Manufacturing Plant with SideDrive Conveyor Co.

Eliminating transfers from your production processes is only one of the key benefits available from an edge-driven, modular continuous conveyor design. Our team will work with you to understand your unique application and design a solution that fits within your exact dimensions. You can reduce product loss, optimize your product throughput, and create a seamless, smooth flow of frozen pizzas through each stage of the process.

If you’d like to find out more about our transferless conveyor designs for your frozen pizza production line, reach out to SideDrive Conveyor Co. today.