SMI’s research and development ensures high quality, tested products that maintain its market lead
The latest Tempro® product from Seymour Manufacturing’s stable is a fire resistant version, which passed BS 5867 with flying colours. It will withstand 1000ºC up to an hour. This latest product comes as a result of SMI’s ongoing research and development programme, which continually finds ways of improving the company’s products. Its Tempro® product range is no exception.
Although many exciting new, innovative products designed to save energy and running costs will be joining the SMI range for the food industry, the company never loses sight of its core aims to prove that its products are still at the cutting edge of the industry with standards that others can only follow.
A major part of SMI’s R&D programme is that of testing its products as an aid to keeping at the forefront of its markets. Intertek has recently performed independent tests of SMI’s Tempro® range, and these have proved that their thermal qualities are still in the lead by some margin.
The Tempro® family has grown considerably over the twenty years plus since it was invented by Seymour Manufacturing. It ranges from Tempro light for temperature protection of products over short distances, or where a product in manufacture must be protected thermally during movement through the factory, to the previously mentioned new fireproof version.
The other two most commonly used grades are Tempro Standard and Tempro Heavy Duty. Tempro Standard is designed for use in the majority of covers – typically for pallet and roll cages, Temperature Control Zones, box liners, blankets, supported boxes and products for the medical sector.
Tempro Heavy Duty is the grade used for SMI Cold Stop freezer and chill room curtains. It is also used for the above applications, depending upon duty, as well as situations where frozen products need to be protected over long periods due to extended distances or storage requirements. It is also utilised to protect frozen products on board ship and in flexible cold rooms.
There are many other Tempro combinations and formulations which are matched to the tasks demanded of them, the above being a general guide. Commenting on its R&D, Chairman Brian Seymour reports that their programme of continuous product development in conjunction with customers ensures that SMI, and its public, keep abreast of technical developments.
Manners Meats gets in first to adopt SMI Track Rack before general release
Almost before Seymour Manufacturing’s new, no nonsense racking system Track Rack had been generally released to the market, leading meat processor R Manners & Sons ordered a system and had it installed in its Ponteland, Newcastle-upon-Tyne meat processing plant. Manners is the first major company to adopt the SMI racking system. The company has been using SMI insulated divider curtains in its vehicles, to run chilled and frozen in the same space, and Cold Stop curtains in chill rooms and freezers for a considerable time. The quality, ease of installation and fitness for purpose of Track Rack was the decider for the Manners management team.
Manners’ initial installation in a chill store is 4.2 metres long with a 2 metre leg to form an “L” configuration, four shelves high. It follows successful trials and it is planned to fit out larger stores on the site in due course.
SMI’s Track Rack is a lightweight assembly which clicks together using anodized aluminium frames with high impact, washable blue plastic ventilated shelves. These can incorporate a unique ‘Rear Guard’ shelf back stop which prevents stock falling off the back of the shelf, thus reducing waste and improving hygiene. The system is hard wearing and modular and is delivered in flat pack form for easy assembly. It is simple to erect, extend or re-erect without tools, although a plastic mallet is an advantage. There are two depths and six convenient lengths for assembly in any size of room. For right-angled runs there are corner fittings. Shelves may be fitted eleven high or at any single height to suit demand. If mobility is required braked and swivel wheels can be fitted to the bottom of the upright supports.
R Manners & Sons was established over 80 years ago and is still a family run organisation that is now one of the leading catering butchers in the North East of England. The current production facility at Ponteland processes beef, lamb, pork and poultry along with catering and traditional hand-made sausages for a customer base of over 2,000 outlets. This ranges from large local authorities, NHS and private hospitals to industrial caterers and small hotels, restaurants and bistros.
The company uses different chill rooms for different products. Raw materials are in chill, as is the processing plant. Chill temperatures range from zero to +3ºC whilst freezer store rooms are controlled to between minus 16ºC to minus 20ºC. All the units are equipped with Cold Stop curtains and dramatically improve retention of cold air inside the stores.
Previously this was an issue but now Manners is deriving energy savings. Expansion makes it difficult to compare like with like but management is aware that savings are being made as evaporators run for shorter periods to maintain optimum temperatures.
Beating the 20-minute rule with Seymour Covers
Seymour Manufacturing International’s adjustable pallet covers are one of the simplest and most cost effective solutions to help retailers conform to The Food Standards Agency’s 20-minute rule for chilled and frozen goods. This requires that such products should not be left without a form of temperature protection for more than 20 minutes after leaving a temperature controlled vehicle, chilled or freezer store.
Such is the demand for these covers that SMI now holds both European and UK pallet sizes in stock for quick delivery. The unique adjustable Tempro® cover extends in height from 500mm to 2 metres for part, reducing or varying pallet loads, and folds flat when not in use. SMI’s ex-stock sizes are 800mm by 1200mm and 1000mm by 1200mm, both 1800mm high.
The temperature insulating properties of Tempro® have been proven to protect product for up to 8 hours, which makes them outstanding for keeping frozen or chilled goods in temperature for long periods in alien conditions. Buy the same token they will also protect ambient goods in a chilled atmosphere, say bananas to be moved with chilled produce, which increases vehicle payloads and improves delivery turnaround times.
To comply with the 20-minute directive, SMI is also producing a number of bespoke covers, many printed with the retailer’s name and a statement that the goods comply with the rule, for existing customer roll cages.
SMI Cold Stop curtains fulfil twin duties for Orchard House Foods
As well as saving energy by dramatically reducing heat losses from chilled areas, Seymour Manufacturing’s Cold Stop door curtains are serving another role at Orchard House Foods. Finished with one colour on one side and a different one on the reverse, they are used to differentiate and remind staff which are high and low risk areas within the production and storage areas of the Corby, Northants plant.
Orchard House Foods produce a range of fresh fruit products for the major multiple retailers. They process into juice, smoothies and other fresh fruit derivatives. In parts of the processing plant blue Cold Stop curtains are used to indicate a change to a standard care area. Red curtains signify a change to a high care area. A system operates inside the plant whereby if staff are confronted by a doorway with coloured curtains they should not enter unless suitably attired.
Low care areas require ordinary safety shoes and hairnets, whilst for standard care hairnets, approved footware and a smock coat are the order of the day. High Care areas are fully segregated with conventional doors, their own changing areas and hygiene restrictions.
The majority of the chilled production areas – some standard and some high care – are equipped with Cold Stop to help maintain an interior temperature between 5ºC and 7ºC. For areas where finished bottled product is stored and awaiting transport to customer, the temperature is maintained at 2.5º to 3ºC. There is a rolling programme to change all plastic strip doors to Cold Stop.
When asked about his approach to SMI’s curtains, Paul Fellows, Drinks Division Engineering Manager, said that the aim in changing to Cold Stop from plastic strip was threefold; primarily to save energy but at the same time have something that was much more aesthetically pleasing and user friendly. However, after speaking to SMI about the design and the opportunity to use different colours, it became evident that they could be also used to remind staff that they needed to be specially attired to enter certain areas. “And we are making energy savings too,” he said.
Beware cheap imitators of cold stop that do not match SMI standards
Feedback from the marketplace has indicated to Seymour Manufacturing that there are counterfeit versions of its innovative Cold Stop Tempro insulated curtains for chilled store and freezer room doorways being advertised and installed. Although the claims are often without foundation or, like the product, frequently copied from removed originals, even the advertising has been shadowed and downloads of SMI’s web site have also been used.
Back in the seventies Brian Seymour, the present company’s Chairman, formulated Tempro®, the first, most thermally efficient thin and flexible insulating material in the world. From it he developed a family of food chain products including pallet covers, containers, cold stores and inflatable cold rooms. In the early nineties he drew up the first thermal strip curtain. After 10 years’ extensive development Cold Stop and its associated suspension system reached a marketable stage and was accepted by several supermarkets as the solution to their issues of heat losses from chilled stores. Subsequently Cold Stop has been installed in the majority of their outlets and has been accepted as the standard for new stores. Companies in the food processing and food manufacturing sector are also purchasing in quantities, mainly due to the energy savings that can be achieved from their chilled and frozen store operation with Cold Stop’s use. The Seymour product is also seen as a solution to several health and safety issues.
“I know that imitation is the highest form of flattery, but failing counterfeits give the concept a bad name and do not achieve Cold Stop’s savings of up to 25% in chill stores and up to 35% in freezers.” says Brian Seymour.
“SMI spends extensive amount of its capital on research and development and ensures that all thermal claims are validated by leading research authorities, typically the Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association and the Building Research Institute. We also develop products in ‘partnership’ with the food industry. Like many of our products, Cold Stop carries a SAFETY AND USAGE ANALYSIS prepared by the independent Ryder Partnership. We have no given right to the market place,” says Brian Seymour, “but we continue to improve our product range and quality to maintain our position; there is now a Tempro family and many variations on the Cold Stop theme, with more to come.”
SMI’s Cold Stop is the original Tempro® insulated strip door curtain and combines with a patented suspension system for cold rooms and freezer stores. Due to its high thermal efficiency, Cold Stop dramatically reduces cold room energy consumption by allowing optimum settings on evaporator equipment to achieve the internal working temperature for less energy.
SMI is able to repair and re-cycle Cold Stop curtains, which greatly extends curtain lives and helps to reduce climate impact.
Seymour Manufacturing International
Tel: 01952 730630
www.seymour-mi.com
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