But he wasn't absolutely sure how much they weighed, so he called in a specialist to ensure he was meeting the challenges of modern food production
Marco Weighing Systems is helping family owned specialist food producer Bennett Opie meet the growing challenges of modern food legislation.
The company was founded in 1880 by the young Cornishman Bennett Opie.
During his regular trips to London selling Cornish eggs to high class shops, Bennett realised there was a market for high quality cocktail cherries that could be sold in jars, to meet the growing demand from Victorian high society.
Today, based in Sittingbourne, the company is run by Bennett's great grandsons, William and Philip Opie, and employs around 100 people.
There is no doubt that Bennett would have been proud of his family's ongoing achievements and the company now produces no fewer than 800 mouth-watering delicacies for leading supermarkets and specialist delicatessens around the world, including Harrods and Fortnum and Masons.
Although the market for cocktail cherries may have declined in recent years, demand for their other products has expanded dramatically. Opie's vibrant mix of products now extends from the more familiar pickled gherkins, capers, olives and silverskin onions through to the recent additions of fruits in liqueur such as peaches in brandy.
It should be noted that Opies are also founders of the illustrious Pickled Walnut Society and their secret recipe for this highly acclaimed, yet individualistic product, lives on.
Modern food regulations including such as average weight legislation places significant demands on companies like Bennett Opie and given the huge variety of different products, it is not difficult to see how important it is to have an efficient system to control the process and keep track of the information.
Average weight legislation dictates that manufacturers must check at different intervals, the net weight contents of their containers without the preservative liquid.
This involves emptying the contents of the bottle or jar into a sieve, weighing the product and recording the data.
As the company had grown they acknowledged that their equipment and procedures for carrying this out needed upgrading.
However, as Opie's technical director Philip Opie explains, "We realised that the days were numbered for our old Dos based system and stand alone scales, but taking the decision to upgrade was not one we could afford to take lightly.
Any new system would need to be simple to instigate, provide tangible benefits and be installed with the minimum of disruption to normal production." Senior management was also aware that there could be a possible negative reaction from staff especially on the shop floor, if the new system was over complex or failed to operate smoothly.
Marco Weighing Systems has built a reputation designing and supplying bespoke weighing and control solutions for industry.
Its success in these types of applications is based on a remarkably simple approach.
It spends as much time as necessary discussing the requirements with the customer's key personnel - from operators on the shop floor through to senior management.
All systems are based on a modular concept and Marco is adamant that it will not cut corners which may jeopardise the functionality and reliability of a particular system, Marco personnel look at the complete operational requirements and by taking time to talk with the people directly involved on a day to day basis, they can ensure that the solution offered meets all the client's needs.
The new system at Opies importantly addresses both the operational and administration problems they had encountered with obtaining average weight data and brings together a blend of Marco's custom designed DataMaster work stations and average weight software.
The four stainless steel DataMaster units are designed to provide not only a fully hygienic environment where samples are weighed, but also a complete self contained mobile work station.
The scale is an integral part of the unit, fitted flush into the work surface at optimum working height.
The fully sealed instrument console can be washed down and the side chute on the work surface prevents build up of water around the scale.
The shelving and drawer unit below the work surface are designed to store essential test equipment and lockable doors keep the contents clean and dry and prevent unauthorised access.
Castors on the bottom of the workstation allow the unit to be easily moved to wherever it is needed in the process line.
For this application, Marco specified sophisticated average weight control software.
The central element in any such in-process monitoring system is the accurate and timely recording of product attributes in addition to the weight data.
The QCPro V5 weight and attribute system provides a complete solution to the real time monitoring and paperless storage of attribute data which integrates with Opie's existing management computer system.
The software is designed and developed to meet Trading Standards and Custom and Excise requirements as well as recognised SPC systems.
The complete system at Opies offers a very straightforward and user friendly operator interface which automatically prompts operators when tests are due.
It also provides user-defined operator warning messages detailing what actions should be taken.
There is a high level of customisable security including log-on, time outs, password expiry and individual operator access profiles. Philip Opie is very pleased with the overall result.
"We have felt very comfortable with Marco's personal level of service, attention to detail and professionalism.
"The system meets all our requirements and both the hardware and software have been customised around our specific needs. "Installation caused minimum disruption and although initially we had to enter an enormous amount of new data, we are already seeing the benefits.
"Now we can record information more efficiently and the new integrated equipment causes the minimum of disruption to normal production.
"Full details of critical data are now instantly available at our fingertips and the operators are finding the system much easier to use.
"We are now talking with Marco about a recipe control system for our new range of organic sauces."
