Equipment for getting mayonnaise on sandwiches - help

Hi all,

Please help! 

We are a small business that manually produces several thousand sandwiches on a conveyor belt every day.  The conveyor has a line of people all putting their ingredient onto the sandwich as it goes past.  We can make between 1 - 200 (yes, we do make as few as 1 sandwich to meet an order) of each variety of sandwich so need the ability to change over ingredients very quickly.

Currently we use 1 litre squeeze/sauce bottles to apply mayonnaise, caesar dressing, thousand island dressing, honey mustard, etc, etc onto the sandwich.  They are a soft plastic so that they can be squeezed.

I want to be able to label the bottles with what is in them and when it was filled however I can't think of a safe way of doing this.  Sticky labels will fall off (probably into the sandwich), permanent markers will not stay permanent given the quantity of alcohol based hand sanitiser that is used.  The plastic is too thin to engrave.  Does anyone have any ideas that aren't stupidly expensive?

I'm also wondering if there is another type of "dispenser" that would be more suitable - one which will dispense a consistent amount with minimal wastage, but is cheap, small/portable (like the bottles), easy to clean?  We have quite a few different flavours of sauces/dressing and change over multiple times every day (and it would need the ability to identify what is in it).

Anyone have any experiences or ideas they can share?

Thanks

Have different colour bottles for different sauces.

I've always used this method with chemicals such as solvents where the labels easily become damaged and unreadable.

You can have some clear signage around the work area explaining the colour codes.

Thanks Simon,

I'm busy scouring the internet.  Unfortunately, NZ is a small country and we frequently don't have a variety of things.  Our current bottles come in "opaque" with either a red or a black lid.  That's it :(

Found something on internet, but I am not able to post a picture.

It looks like a small sealant gun.

Just search pictures on "sauce dispenser".

Found something on internet, but I am not able to post a picture.

It looks like a small sealant gun.

Just search pictures on "sauce dispenser".

:roflmao: How many of us are searching for this right now? There are like 5 people viewing this thread.   IFSQN - An army of QA's looking to put sauce on food with a little help from google

the sauce gun looks really cool!  That's probably exactly what they need.  http://www.alibaba.c...0087097763.html

If you search for "condiment dispenser" or "squeeze dispenser" and then a color you may be able to find the bottles.  Restaurant /hotel supply stores have them.    The bottles themselves really only come in red yellow and clear, but you can find more expensive bottle in other color, and you can find bottle tips in all of the colors. 

Vollrath makes some nice tips, some of them have two of three openings if you need to dispense more

Is this the type of gun you mean.  Its cool but kind of pricey.  But who knows maybe it will save on labor etc.  

:roflmao: How many of us are searching for this right now? There are like 5 people viewing this thread.   IFSQN - An army of QA's looking to put sauce on food with a little help from google

 

You know us tooo well!!  :lol2:

Bloody hell! Looks like something an artificial inseminator might use!!!!


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Oh my gosh....I needed that laugh.....Thank you!  :rofl2:

Is this the type of gun you mean.  Its cool but kind of pricey.  But who knows maybe it will save on labor etc.  

 

Yes, that is the one.

Bloody hell! Looks like something an artificial inseminator might use!!!!


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IEKS! You are right!

I am also questioning the hygienic design of this thing.

Probably a squeezable bottle is easier to clean and does not include hygiene hazards.

Looks like a caulking gun.

Is this the type of gun you mean.  Its cool but kind of pricey.  But who knows maybe it will save on labor etc.  

 

You can always try to tag it with some color laminate.

I would recommend heat stamping perhaps?

We have done that with all of our plastic tubs - thicker plastic though.

How about just different coloured lids or attach a small tag around the neck?

Oooh, colored tags are good idea.  Should not be that expensive either. 

I was thinking of tags but not finding anything suitable over here.

I'm also investigating if manufacturers of drink bottles (like cyclists use) can make spout lids to fit.  Then I could get lots of colours or get them printed.  Or maybe get our existing ones printed...

If you use  tags and they are plastic, don't forget to include them on your plastics records and do a risk assessment.

If you use  tags and they are plastic, don't forget to include them on your plastics records and do a risk assessment.

Sigh... Yes. It's never-ending.

I guess it keeps us all in a job though.  And if I didn't have a job, I couldn't afford to buy wine and chocolate.

Sigh... Yes. It's never-ending.

I guess it keeps us all in a job though.  And if I didn't have a job, I couldn't afford to buy wine and chocolate.

LOL yep it is never ending.   I like how you spend your money.  :roflmao:

Easy to get small plastic credit card type tags made up (a bit smaller though....) and metal detectable cable tie on....trim the ends of the cable tie and your golden. :)

Easy to get small plastic credit card type tags made up (a bit smaller though....) and metal detectable cable tie on....trim the ends of the cable tie and your golden. :)

If this is an option, why not only using coloured tie wraps and leave the hard plastig tag out?

Hmm..... probably coloured tie wraps are also hard to get

Dear primadeli,

I deduce yr production line is basically "dry".

If so, I'm a little surprised that you are so negative with respect to labels. I have had instances where the label physically disintegrated before you could strip it off. And the reverse of course. I predict it depends on the label quality, eg paper, adhesive, plastic surface. And probably price. :smile:

Admittedly, minimum quantities might also be a problem unless yr (or NZ?) setup includes a PC-driven, label printing machine. Not cheap but allows infinite variety.

Rgds / Charles.C

PS - I have tried tags on (small) chemical bottles. Months of fun before admitted defeat.

From observation, pharmacy suppliers are quite clued-in regarding labeling on small containers but whether their usage complies with food grade, no idea.

I would recommend heat stamping perhaps?

We have done that with all of our plastic tubs - thicker plastic though.

How about just different coloured lids or attach a small tag around the neck?

Yeah I agree with the small tags around the neck.... I notice that is what Subway does.... It's a plastic engraved circular piece that fits over the threads on the bottle and is held in place with the lid.  Quite genius I might add!

    Like this!!!!!

Thanks Charles,

I have tried one or two types of labels on the bottles, but they have fallen straight off.  I have some more label samples to try, but I suspect the constant squeezing of the bottles and hot washing/sterilising, will shorten the life of labels significantly (if I can get them to stay on the bottles in the first place).  I will keep persevering.

Cowboys Angel, those tags look great, but we are a very little company and can't really afford to get them made up specifically for us.

I am also investigating using a promotional company that prints on sipper/drink bottles etc.  Perhaps they will be happy to print on bottles that aren't supplied by them. 

I am loving seeing the various options that people are suggesting.  Thank you all so much.