Baking & Snack - April 2022 - 84

featured technical expert Q&A
Jeff Almond
Heat and Control
For industry veteran Jeff Almond, a career in snacks runs in the
family.
" My dad and uncle worked for snack industry suppliers, so it
has always been a part of my life, " he said.
While Mr. Almond may have seemed destined to follow the
same path, it didn't start out that way, as he first worked in the
printing industry. That is until he eventually heard about an opportunity
to join the snack food community at The Woodman
Co., a manufacturer of primary and secondary packaging
machinery.
" I took it and never looked back, " he said.
Mr. Almond has now worked in the industry for 33 years. He
began at The Woodman Co. in 1989 as a general sales manager,
eventually being promoted to vice president, manager and then
How do you ensure you're maximizing the efficiency
of your bagmaker, especially with single-serve
packaging or changeovers?
For snack food, it starts with having a universal machine that can
run a half ounce to 32 oz on the same machine. Having a preset
on the machine for each bag size enables a quick changeover.
Typically, the operator only needs to change to the new preset that
already has the bags' specific parameters. After that, all that is left
is to change the film and the former. Our design provides good accessibility
to the machine for a quick and ergonomic changeover.
How do certain ingredients/snacks affect
the kind of bagmaker you'll need?
The bagmakers that Heat and Control/Ishida produce are tailored
to the snack industry to handle different products and variations in
those products. The features needed to accomplish the task at hand
are bigger factors than the kind of bagmaker.
For snacks, the issues tend to be crumbs, product in the seals,
changes in volume, seasoning and bag speed. If an operator is running
a small bag at high speed, several features are employed to
ensure success. A good vertical form/fill/seal (VFFS) bagger for
snacks needs precise weighing, perfect product feed and good
charge separation. The bagmakers need to provide a good pillow
bag in registration with stripping to prevent chips in the seal. It also
needs the ability to check for foreign matter, gas flush, with correct
filling tube, all while running 120-plus bpm (bags per minute).
How does the equipment you offer
make VFFS bagmaking easier?
Given the labor challenges the industry faces, we have worked
hard to simplify equipment operation. We use an icon-based, sin84
Baking & Snack April 2022 / www.bakingbusiness.com
president, which he served for
three years. He left the company
to join Heat and Control in 2000,
where he's since served as the
snack food industry manager for
packaging.
Mr. Almond is also an active member
of SNAC International, working on several
committees and serving on the board of directors for both SNAC
and PMMI.
He says the best part of his job is meeting his customers' expectations
and working with the best and brightest people in the industry.
Mr. Almond is a graduate of Georgia Southern University
with a bachelor's degree in marketing.
gle point of control for the scale and bagmaker, similar to a smart
phone. We continue to reduce the number of decisions needed for
an operator to run the equipment efficiently. Also, we provide tools
to enhance both training and ease of maintenance to improve operator
proficiency and to minimize production downtime.
What factors affect which packaging equipment
would work best in a bakery line? How does the type
of snack impact capacity, speed and line efficiency?
All the VFFS machinery we provide is universal and can handle any
snack application and its variables. Typically, the factors to consider
are package style, seasoning, proximity to processing, product alignment
requirement, bulk density and volume fluctuations. We can
run a lighter product (e.g., potato chips) at 110 bpm and a dense
product (e.g., fried extruded) at 180 bpm, but all the factors mentioned
play a role in the line efficiency with low film waste.
What are the biggest food and safety issues involved
in maintaining and operating equipment?
Good sanitation is the key to food safety. Regarding machine safety,
the first step is having machines designed with safety in mind for
the operators to run. Typically, stringent protocols are already in
place for safe, efficient maintenance and operation. The key is in
practicing and enforcing the protocols. This requires good training
and discipline.
How is the equipment you offer being designed to
make maintenance and sanitation easier?
For maintenance, we designed our machines for quick and easy access
with clustered lubrication points and LED lighting in the jaw
area. We also made the maintenance manual resident on the ma
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