Reliable, fast, simple: Winterhalter conveyor warewasher impresses Unilever
Audit highlights energy efficiency of site’s new large scale, hi-tech system
600 for lunch, 200 for breakfast, plus a popular deli bar. Catering for the 1,000 staff and hundreds of visitors at Unilever’s UK and Ireland head office in Leatherhead is run by Sodexo, and it’s a busy business. When it comes to warewashing they look for speed, ease of use and reliability – recently they found all three, when they replaced their old machine with a Winterhalter conveyor system.
“When we started looking at changing the warewasher, foremost on the list was reliability, after the experience of our old machine,” says Philip Brinklow, Sodexo’s Site engineering manager at Leatherhead. “Court Catering, who installed the system, recommended Winterhalter because the brand has a great reputation and they were sure the machines would fit the bill.”
The site’s outlets offer diverse menus with a wide range of foods, so the warewashing has to be able to cope with a variety of different levels of soiling and types of crockery. With so many covers to serve, it has to be fast, too. The Winterhalter MTR-3 that was installed is a multi-tank conveyor system with a variety of features to ensure reliability, efficient cleaning and low water, energy and chemical consumption.
“It’s been very reliable,” says Philip. “Cleaning is extremely efficient. The controls are dead simple to use, too. Much easier than our old one. We had some training on it but it’s so straightforward to operate you hardly need it. There’s not loads of different controls, you simply push the button and let it go.”
Sustainability is a key buying criterion for equipment and the Winterhalter fits in well here, too. “Sodexo ran an internal audit recently and the energy efficiency of the Winterhalter machine was highlighted,” says Philip. “We’re impressed – in fact, we’re very pleased with the whole system.”
Winterhalter @ Unilever, Leatherhead.
Unilever’s MTR-3 is designed for large-scale warewashing operations. A multi-tank rack conveyor system, its fast operation means it can process up to 185 racks per hour.
It features many of Winterhalter’s resource-saving technologies, such as an optimised rinse system that reduces fresh water consumption by 30%. Meanwhile the rack-activated zone control system means each of the machine’s zones (prewash, main wash, rinse, etc.) is only activated when a rack is present – thus minimising consumption of water, energy and chemicals.
The ultra-simple control panel ensures ease of operation and minimises operator error. Simple, clear graphics are designed to ensure that even untrained staff, whose main language may not be English, can easily understand them. Other systems that make the MTR easy to live with include automatic self-cleaning, which greatly reduces manual cleaning, and auto-start up, so when staff arrive for the first shift, the machine is ready to go with no waiting.
Links:
Court Catering Equipment: www.courtcatering.co.uk
Sodexo: http://uk.sodexo.com
Unilever, Leatherhead: www.unilever.co.uk