Industrial equipment supplier BMG has highlighted the significance of its stainless-steel components in enhancing food safety.

BMG’s team of fastener specialists advises food and beverage plants to invest in components that are manufactured in food-compliant materials, like stainless steel, for highly specialised and safety-critical applications in food manufacturing and preparation.

“The BMG team is committed to making sure [the] industry operates safely and efficiently at all times. Care is taken by companies to maintain pristine hygiene standards during food and beverage manufacture, storage, packaging and transportation,” says BMG fasteners sales manager Maryna Werner.

“Through BMG’s assistance with careful and accurate product selection, correct installation methods and appropriate equipment [care], substantial savings can be made in reduced maintenance costs and minimal downtime.”

Werner notes that the company works closely with its customers to ensure that each plant can maintain full production.

She adds that BMG’s solutions for the food and beverage sector extend from processing, where raw ingredients are transformed, to packaging, where products are enclosed for safe distribution.

Advantages of using stainless-steel components, such as fasteners, include corrosion and thermal shock resistance, durability, resistance to powerful cleaning detergents and the ability to withstand a wide temperature range. Moreover, food is untainted as stainless-steel components are non-toxic.

Further, most manufacturing equipment is held together by critical bolted joints. BMG specialists explain that the reasons why bolted joints normally fail include spontaneous bolt loosening and slackening. Bolted joints in food processing are constantly subjected to external forces, which results in spontaneous loosening.

The BMG team recommends the use of the Nord-Lock bolt-securing system which ensures a safe and reliable bolting solution that also saves time and money, owing to less maintenance and reduced downtime.

BMG’s Nord-Lock bolt securing system – which is also available in stainless steel – is based on advanced wedge-locking technology, designed to safely secure bolted joints that are exposed to severe vibration and dynamic loads in extreme conditions. The system improves safety and reduces the risk of lost production or material damage owing to bolt failure.

The Nord-Lock range of securing washers is the only brand on the market that currently displays the EU’s CE mark, indicating that the product meets the relevant safety, health and environmental requirements stipulated by the trade area.

BMG’s engineering solutions ensure customers deliver on food safety and environmental and energy-efficiency expectations, through its supply and support of components for light materials handling, food-grade lubricants and maintenance chemicals.