The pasta manufacturer De Cecco in Ortona produces around 400,000 kilograms of pasta per day in three shifts on twelve production lines and a total quantity of 110,000,000 kilograms per year. The fresh semolina is ground in the mill in Fara San Martino and kneaded with water from the company's own Maiella groundwater source - ideally at a low temperature. The water is also used to traditionally bronze the many different shapes of pasta. This process makes the pasta a little more porous so that sauces can be better captured. In the next stage, which is also very important for quality, the pasta is dried at a low temperature. Finally, thousands of cartons are packed and conveyed via overhead conveyor belts; De Cecco operates a fully automated system here that conveys cartons of various sizes from production to the pallet.

The conveyor system was implemented in a project by plant manufacturer Compac, in which rollers, driven rollers - so-called drive rollers - and drum motors from Rulmeca, which are manufactured in Bergamo and Aschersleben, are used. The overhead conveyor belts for pasta packaged in cardboard boxes are positioned at a height of four to five meters, so that machines can be worked on below the conveyor technology as usual. The building was given a load-bearing structure for this purpose - regardless of the height of the anchor points, the solution was to be designed to be load-bearing from above so that people and machines can work unhindered in the factory hall.

The conveyor system comprises twelve conveyor belts from packing to palletizing and feeding the warehouses. Of these, eleven belts are equipped with elevator belts in two different designs, which transport the cartons to the overhead conveyors. Hundreds of meters of overhead conveyors are installed in different configurations and can accumulate products in the event of an acceptance failure and then release them again as required. Rulmeca products tailored to the requirements played a decisive role in the design of these solutions.

The conveyor system uses Rulmeca drum motors, motorized rollers, conical rollers and gravity rollers. The 113 drum motors are used in the conveyor system at De Cecco, as they are protected all round and hermetically sealed. This makes them ideal for processing and transporting foodstuffs. In addition, drum motors can be used in both normal and damp environments - even where cleaning is frequent (IP66/69plus), which is the case in the pasta factory.

The conveyor system uses rollers from the 135 series, which are driven by sprockets; they offer combination options, flexibility and modularity of the conveyor belts. The steel gravity rollers run on pre-lubricated and sealed radial ball bearings. Steel conical rollers are also used in the driven curves to ensure smooth transportation. pb