Engineering solutions specialists BMG provided engineering components and support services to all sectors during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The BMG team is committed to making sure industry continues to operate as safely and efficiently as possible during this challenging time. It is absolutely critical – especially while we are all vulnerable – that extra care is taken by companies to maintain pristine hygiene standards during food and beverage manufacture, storage, packaging and transportation,” says BMG group product and sales manager Mark Barbour.

He notes that through BMG’s assistance with careful and accurate product selection, correct installation methods and appropriate care of equipment, substantial savings can be made in reduced maintenance costs and minimal downtime. Apart from the supply of necessary engineering consumables and components, industry requires ongoing maintenance and refurbishment services, to ensure efficient productivity in all industries, including food and beverage production.

“We work closely with our customers in all sectors to ensure that each plant is well-prepared to maintain full production. BMG’s solutions for the food and beverage sector extend from processing, where raw ingredients are transformed, to packaging, where products are enclosed and protected for safe distribution. Our team of specialists advises food and beverage plants to invest in fasteners that are manufactured in food-compliant materials, like stainless steel, for highly specialised and safety-critical applications in food manufacturing and preparation.”

Advantages of stainless steel fasteners include corrosion and thermal shock resistance, durability, resistance to powerful cleaning detergents and the ability to withstand a wide temperature range – from cooking to freezing. Added to this, food is untainted by non-toxic stainless steel components.

Most manufacturing equipment is held together by critical bolted joints. According to BMG specialists, the reasons why bolted joints normally fail, is a result of spontaneous bolt loosening and slackening. Bolted joints in food processing are constantly subjected to external forces, which results in spontaneous loosening, owing to vibration and dynamic loads.

With the development of new materials and techniques in modern engineering – for example, corrosion-resistant composites – the problem of slackening is a challenging consequence of settlement and relaxation. This can cause severe damage to equipment and loss of manufactured product.

The BMG team recommends the use of an advanced bolt-securing system that uses tension instead of friction, to ensure that joints holding sub-assemblies together remain secure. Bolts need to be easily removable during maintenance procedures but must resist the loosening effects of vibrations and dynamic loads.

BMG’s engineering solution services help its customers deliver on food safety and environmental and energy-efficient initiatives, through the supply and support of components for light materials handling, belting products, gearboxes, motors and variable speed drives, bearings, seals and gaskets, power transmission components, valves, tools and equipment, as well as fasteners, food-grade lubricants and maintenance chemicals.