Standards Met with Forpak Food Assembly Equipment and What They Mean

As a manufacturer of processing equipment used in the packaging of food products in multiple areas of the food industry, we understand our responsibility to uphold hygiene, sanitation, and quality standards through our designs. Forpak’s innovative solutions for equipment used in the packing of food products in industrial facilities follow strict regulations set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and many other organizations that set requirements and quality standards for food safety. Our food assembly equipment designs include automated, intelligent systems for stacking, laning, sorting, transfers, conveying, reject systems, and more. We also work with clients in need of custom designs that fit specifications for their particular packaging facilities. Our equipment can be easily integrated into existing production lines and maintained in the long term with the protection and benefits of our preventative maintenance program. For more than 30 years, Forpak has worked to meet advanced demands for automated packing equipment while supporting food industry standards for safety and quality.

Food Assembly Equipment

We build our food assembly equipment to accommodate the main industries of meat and poultry, baked goods, and pizza packaging. Our equipment is currently operating on a global scale in many production facilities around the world. Because of our international customer base, we continue to meet specialized industrial standards for the meat and bakery industries.

Federal and International Standards

In addition to federal and industry-specific food safety and environmental standards, we also meet strict specifications for the NSF International and American Institute of Baking (AIB) International organizations.

NSF 3A for Meat and Poultry

NSF International was founded in 1944, originally as the National Sanitation Foundation. The organization grew to cover sanitation in global markets and solidified into today’s certification and standardization system that we know as NSF International, accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Our commitment to meeting NSF 3A Standards for meat and poultry packaging equipment means we create equipment with materials, surface treatments, coatings, sealants, and controls that are durable and washable. Our equipment can be sanitized without risking damage to machine integrity or other detriment, and our designs can be subject to high pressure and humid environments for extended operations without compromise.

BISSC for Baking

The Baking Industry Sanitation Standards Committee (BISSC) is a subsidiary of AIB International and works as an office of certification for fabricators and designers of bakery equipment. The first form of the BISSC was founded in 1949. Today, the BISSC works with ANSI standards for manufacturing equipment for baked goods covering sanitation and food safety. This standard outlines similar requirements for design, materials, and surface treatment of the NSF 3A and other food industry standards, but also establishes strict limitations for corrosion resistance, absorbency, toxic construction materials, protective coatings, and cleaning methodologies.

Both NSF International and the BISSC standards guide our design and manufacturing processes. Our goal as a fabricator of food assembly equipment is to continue to uphold global food safety to the best of our abilities. Contact Forpak at (612) 419-1948 or forpaksupport@multisourcemfg.com; you can also request more information or a quote to get started with us today.

Adding Value to Complete Contract Machining with Precision Grinding, Gun Drilling, Broaching, and Wire EDM

Since 1998, MultiSource Manufacturing LLC has supported original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and other customers in a range of industries with computer numerical control (CNC) machining and expert fabrication work. The prototypes, parts, components, and full assemblies we build meet production needs for precision, material quality, and just-in-time delivery in the medical device, semiconductor, defense and aerospace, financial processing, and food industry. Across our network of six well-equipped facilities, we are able to implement operations from machining with over 140 multi-axis CNC centers to plastic fabrication with polymers like Teflon™ and more. In addition to comprehensive design/build facilities, expert project management systems, and quality materials sourcing, we also provide value-added finishing treatments to parts and assemblies, such as laser marking and heat treatments. If you need contract machining and fabrication services for your components, parts, or assemblies, MultiSource has the staff, equipment, supplies, and facilities to get the job done.

Contract Machining Operations

While a significant part of our contract machining operations relies on the performance of our 3-axis and 5-axis indexed CNC machine centers, Swiss turning machines, lathes, and other programmable, high-powered CNC equipment, our access to supplemental tools also allows us to meet the closest tolerances possible with the greatest accuracy. Some of those supplemental tooling operations include:

Grinding:

We utilize several grinding systems to finish component surfaces and interiors to the exact tolerance required. We can also treat surfaces with powerful grinding systems to create desired cosmetic and functional finishes, use gear grinders to create perfection in high-precision gearing parts, apply center grinders for meticulous shafts, use tumble grinders to reduce imperfections quickly, and implement many other specialized grinders in the machining process.

Gun Drilling:

Fluted straight gun drills utilize cutting fluid to make deep holes into working materials. The cutting fluid provides both cooling and lubrication as the drilling is done. We can apply gun drilling on our mills, lathes, and other machining tools for the best precision possible. With gun drills, we can cut accurate holes with depths over five times their diameters.

Broaching:

Using linear and rotary broaching tools, we can efficiently perform specific cuts when building parts that require asymmetric machining. Toothed broaching cutters are frequently used in manufacturing gear systems, dies, keyways, castings, and more. Broaching allows us to rapidly perform unusual cuts with tolerances as tight as ±0.0005 in (±0.01 mm).

Wire EDM:

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) uses current to remove material from a workpiece in subtractive manufacturing operations. Wire EDM can cut plates up to 11.81 in (300 mm) in thickness with CNC guided programs. These systems are useful in precision-cutting hard metals that would cause unnecessary wear on other machining systems.

Grinding, gun drilling, broaching, and wire EDM are just some of the many supplemental operations we use to complete a fabrication project. For more about our contract machining capabilities, contact MultiSource Manufacturing LLC at (952) 456-5500. You can also request more information or a quote to get started with us today.