McClancy Seasonings feeds 8,000 different spices and dry food mixes to packaging lines with flexible screw conveyor
Fort Mill, SC — "Today, McClancy Seasoning moves more bulk product in one day than it did annually during the early 1970s," says Allen Davis, Vice President of Operations. This amounts to over 30 million pounds of spices and finished coatings — over 8,000 different recipes, each comprised of one to 25 ingredients — packaged in single portion flexible pouches, industrial sized bottles, 55 gallon drums, 50 pound bags, and 25- and 50- pound cartons.
"First was a pneumatic conveyor which was too slow for our requirements. It separated blends, was difficult to clean, and was generally unsuited to our application."
"Next we purchased two bucket elevators which handled product gently, but were difficult and time consuming to clean and, in the end, simply unsanitary."
"We also tried a rigid screw conveyor but returned it because disassembly for cleaning proved too time consuming."
First Flexicon outperformed all previous conveyors
"We purchased our first Flexicon flexible screw conveyor in 1978 to charge the hopper on one of our packaging machines, and quickly realized that it provided everything we were looking for: it was less costly to buy and install than those other conveyors, it did not separate blends whose ingredient particles can range in size form 100 mesh to .25 inch, and it did not damage our spices, which are often fragile. Most importantly, the Flexicon was easy for us to take apart and clean thoroughly," said Davis. "It clearly offered us the best value."
15 Flexicons and growing
As McClancy added filling lines, it added Flexicon conveyors, and now has 15 Flexicon conveyors running daily, including the first one purchased in 1978.
"I suspect our Flexicon conveyors take more punishment than most conveyors, because each one constantly cycles on and off to charge relatively small hoppers equipped with level controls."
"They are simplified machines with few moving parts so Flexicon conveyors are extremely dependable." "Basically, the unit is a hopper and a discharge head, with a rugged, replaceable spiral and tube, so it's easy and inexpensive to keep a Flexicon conveyor running almost indefinitely."
"The mobility of Flexicon conveyors is also a major benefit to us; we have them suspended from the ceiling with cables, and can move them to different positions in under 20 minutes, enabling us to respond to changing production requirements," added Davis.
McClancy has traditionally used Flexicon's 4- and 3- inch conveyor tube sizes, but for their latest plant expansion they are considering adding a 6" model having a capacity of 600 cubic feet per hour. All are sanitary stainless steel construction.
When asked about Flexicon factory support, Mr. Davis replied "Not once since receiving our first Flexicon conveyor in 1978 have we been disappointed in the quality or responsiveness of their service. We expect to continue our consistent growth, and we expect to rely on Flexicon exclusively to fulfill all of our bulk solids handling requirements."
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