In 2006 the Sugar Puffs brand was acquired by Honey Monster Foods. Still based at the same site, the company now also manufactures a number of other products including Honey Waffles, Choco Puffs, Choco Waffles and Monster Puff bars and is part of the Raisio Group.
Safety in the factory for those working there is paramount, hence a fire detection system. The food firm however was suffering from unwanted alarms. John Higgins, the company’s Project Engineering manager, says: ‘Things had got to a point where an unwanted alarm was a weekly occurrence. Needless to say, this was highly disruptive as it required a full evacuation of the premises and a shut down of the production plant, all of which was a waste of valuable time and money.’
John Higgins contacted High Wycombe-based fire detection installer Surefire Services.
Marcus Kemp, the company’s services director, says: ‘We had previously worked with Honey Monster Foods on the installation of a water mist system in one part of its premises, so we were already familiar with the issues that John and his team were having. After carrying out a full site survey and assessment of the existing closed protocol system, we decided that due to its age it was uneconomical to try to repair it. We therefore recommended replacing it with an open protocol system from Hochiki Europe.’
Surefire has had a 20-year relationship with Hochiki Europe. Kemp says: ‘First and foremost it would have to be the proven reliability of its diverse range of products. We know that whatever application we are working in, we will be able to access a suitable solution that is backed up with unrivalled levels of service and support – elements that make our lives easier. I also like the fact that the company does not accept product failures. While some other companies think that anything up to a three per cent detector failure rate is acceptable, Hochiki Europe doesn’t.’
One of the reasons that Honey Monster Foods had experienced so many unwanted alarms was due to water entering the call points during regular cleaning of the factory. To prevent this type of problem reoccurring Surefire recommended using 70 HCP-W(SCI) weatherproof call points, which could offer the required ingress protection (IP).
Paul Adams, Hochiki Europe’s deputy marketing manager says: ‘A product’s IP rating consists of the letters IP followed by two digits. It classifies the degrees of protection provided against the intrusion of solid objects, dust, accidental contact, and water in electrical enclosures. The higher the number, the higher the protection offered.’
The IP rating of the HCP-E is IP67 (highest possible is IP68). IP67 means that the product is protected against the effects of being immersed in water and it is also dust tight.
The new system is based around Hochiki Europe’s Enhanced Systems Protocol (ESP), described by the product firm as a robust total communications solution for fire detection and integrated systems that can accommodate simple addressable systems, as well as building management and life safety systems.
As well as the weatherproof call points, a number of smoke sensors were also configured around a Kentec Electronics control panel. Marcus Kemp says: ‘We installed a number of ALG-EN optical smoke sensors that feature Hochiki Europe’s pioneering High Performance Chamber Technology. This design minimises the differences in sensitivity experienced in flaming and smouldering fires and the result is a high performance optical chamber that is equally responsive to all smoke types and helps to reduce the possibility of unwanted alarms. It can be easily removed or replaced for cleaning which is something that is particularly useful in a food manufacturing environment.’
To minimise disruption during installation, Surefire deployed a team, who completed the work in just five days. This involved keeping the original control panels live while the new ones were installed, to give protection at all times.
The installation was completed on time to the specification required and no unwanted alarms have since been reported. At Honey Monster Foods, John Higgins, adds: ‘The new fire detection system has made a tangible difference to the operation of the building and we are all benefitting from the lack of disruption to our working days. I’m confident that we have the best possible life safety solution in place and we have commissioned Surefire to extend the system into other areas of the building.’
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