Tong Engineering has announced record sales of the company’s next generation stainless steel Barrel Washer throughout 2020.
Sales of the company’s advanced Barrel Washers have been boosted in the UK and export markets by an increase in orders for the new, advanced design which was launched early last year,” says Edward Tong, Managing Director at Tong Engineering.
Built with efficiency, reliability, and ease of maintenance in mind, Tong’s proven barrel washer design has been enhanced with several advanced features as standard including a new direct-drive, inverter-controlled barrel drive shaft with heavy duty coupling.
“This year has been an unprecedented year in so many ways,” says Edward. “It’s been a landmark year for us as we’ve celebrated 90 years of business whilst opening our new state-of-the-art production facility. However, there is no doubt that being a UK manufacturer, producing equipment during a Global pandemic has certainly had its challenges.”
“Nonetheless, we are delighted that our order book has remained strong throughout 2020, including a record number of orders for our next generation stainless steel Barrel Washer.”
A snapshot of the Tong factory currently sees five Tong barrel washers at different stages in the final assembly process. Machines currently in production vary in size and specification and are destined for fresh pack businesses in the UK as well as France, China and Italy.
“We have been working on some very advanced vegetable washing projects with some of the world’s largest vegetable producers, as well as small, specialist root crop growers. Regardless of their size and throughput requirements, all these customers have the same common goal of achieving a very high-quality crop washing process with a system that maximises throughput and is very simple to maintain,” explains Edward. “As such, we have worked closely with these customers to specify custom-built stainless steel Barrel Washers which are fully-loaded with our range of options for ultimate performance.”
“Advanced features including our latest heavy-duty direct-driven auger with side scraper chain system which can be built with fully automatic control and sequencing, as well as our newly-designed floating debris remover and integrated destoner have proved very popular,” says Edward.
Suitable for washing a wide range of root crops, Tong’s barrel washer is the first choice for efficient and gentle potato and carrot washing, as well as effective washing of parsnips, celeriac, sugar beet, swedes and more. Manufactured in barrel lengths ranging from 1.2m – 6m and barrel widths from 600mm – 1500mm, the Tong Barrel Washer can be specified as a stand-alone unit or integrated into a new or existing handling line.
“Our next generation Barrel Washer design, alongside our proven Auto-Touch HMI controls which include intelligent diagnostics and safety modules, mean when our customers choose a Tong washer, they can be sure of a high-performance, low maintenance machine that brings optimum washing results. The demand for this machine throughout 2020 reinforces the importance of an efficient vegetable washing system to ensure the gentlest handling and the highest value end product,” added Edward.
For more information on Tong’s latest range of handling equipment visit www.tongengineering.com.