Essentra helps oven manufacturer enhance safety

IET Combustion, a global manufacturer of combustion ovens, has turned to Essentra Components to provide the essential hinges, latches and handles to make its ovens safer to use, and meet the demand for continuous operation.

A family-run business based in Australia, IET Combustion manufactures large stainless-steel combustion ovens for the global food industry. In the USA, it has an exclusive contract with PepsiCo to supply stainless-steel ovens and proofers to food manufacturing plants around the world. The company‘s ovens operate 24/7, each producing three-tonnes of crisps per hour. It previously relied on three different distributors to provide its access hardware, which led to high prices, inconsistent stock levels, and late deliveries. The quality of its handles also created problems — heat from the oven was transferring to the ovens’ handles, slowing down production and flagging health and safety issues.

Given the critical nature of the equipment and the demand for continuous operation, these challenges created production delays, inefficiencies, and added strain on the business. Essentra Components supplied nine individual access hardware samples for customer approval, offering competitive pricing with a fixed rate for each part based on IET’s annual usage. Additionally, Essentra held a 12-month stock of these parts in its local warehouse, ensuring stock availability at all times and timely delivery.

Improved operational efficiency
To fit the customer’s production schedule and limited storage space, Essentra implemented a scheduled delivery system, providing 25% of the stock each quarter. This streamlined IET’s hardware sourcing process, eliminating the need to manage multiple distributors. Moreover, Essentra addressed the specific quality issue with a previous supplier by designing a custom stainless-steel handle with branding. This custom handle resolved the heat transference problem, reducing maintenance downtime, and improving both safety and operational efficiency.

Nick Tuckwell, manufacturing manager at IET Combustion, said: “Essentra’s reliable deliveries and custom hardware solutions have streamlined our production process, eliminating downtime and saving us both time and money.”

Will Quinn, general manager for Essentra Australia, concluded: “By working closely with IET Combustion and quickly responding with samples, designs, fixed 12-month pricing, local stocking, and scheduled deliveries, we have been able to gain IET’s trust and provide the right solution to meet its business needs. With on-time deliveries and no quality issues, IET’s production runs smoothly without delays.”