Machine design improvement for tuna flake filling in cans

Abstract

This study aims to improve the process of tuna flake filling in cans by developing a minimum viable product (MVP) to test the feasibility of the improvement. It also examines other related prior and subsequent processes to discover possibilities to increase the accuracy and precision of the filling. Experiments have been carried out during the study to determine the most appropriate features of the machine and suitable conditions of incoming material in order to satisfy the filling standard. The result of the study shows that an improvement in the incoming material investigation process is needed to gain more stable size range of tuna flakes which leads to satisfied fill weight accuracy and precision by the canned tuna flake manufacturer. It also suggests that improvement in the incoming material investigation procedure along with volume controlled granular filler can be used to replace the workers involved in the weight correction process which currently requires 6-8 people in the process.