MyMochi Increases Throughput by 50% with DirectDrive Structure Supported Spirals

Customer Objectives 

MyMochi was looking to increase production of their 3-gallon ice cream tubs to meet demand while decreasing labor and maintenance costs. The freezing application at their plant was a friction-driven system with metal belting which required constant maintenance. The existing system could not handle the additional product load necessary to increase production within normal operation hours. 

To achieve their demand goals with the friction-driven system, MyMochi’s Vernon, California, plant needed labor working overtime, which increased cost and staff turnover. Heavy product load combined with the weight of a metal belt on a friction-driven system created high tension, causing frequent belt failures. Due to these challenges, MyMochi regularly experienced unexpected downtime, forcing the team to work significant overtime to meet production goals. 

Intralox Execution 

A belting reseller contacted Intralox after learning about MyMochi’s project objectives and goals. Intralox’s Spiral Technical Group (STG) went to work on developing a solution. 

Intralox’s STG recommended a retrofit from MyMochi’s existing spiral system to an Intralox DirectDrive System (DDS) spiral with Series 2800 acetal belting. Intralox’s Optimization Services Group (OSG) showed MyMochi operations and plant managers a spiral analysis detailing system specifications and calculations. The spiral analysis and proposal illustrated how the DDS retrofit with lighter plastic belting would successfully allow for 50% greater product load, reduce belt tension, eliminate overdrive issues, and increase throughput to meet their demand goals.

The partnership between Intralox’s STG and OSG and MyMochi’s operations and plant managers ensured the spiral retrofit installation was successful. The retrofitted system was operational within six months of initial meetings.

Results 

The Intralox DDS solution allowed MyMochi to increase throughput by 50%, from 360 to 540 tubs of ice cream per hour. The DDS spiral is able to better handle the heavy product load, requiring less tension and eliminating system failures. As a result, MyMochi now experiences zero unexpected downtime, eliminating maintenance and overtime labor costs. They are pleased with the result of this project and plan to continue working with Intralox in the future.