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| In 2010, Hershey's Create Your Own Candy Bar Attraction opened with help from Schenck AccuRate feeders. |
Whitewater, WI -- In 2007 worldwide candy maker, The Hershey® Company, proposed the idea for visitors to make their own candy bar through a simulated production line at their Hershey’s Chocolate World attraction in Hershey, PA. The concept was inspired by The Hershey Company “bring your child to work” program where employees had their children make candy bars as part of their educational visit. The idea was driven by the need to provide additional immersive and interactive branded experiences at Hershey’s Chocolate World attraction.
After years of research, design and development the project came to life in 2010 with a newly constructed addition named Hershey’s Innovative Center where Hershey’s "Create Your Own Candy Bar" attraction is housed.
The Process
Each visitor purchases a ticket which includes a bar code that identifies the guest and allows them to interact with the equipment in the Hershey’s Innovation Center. The visitor then enters the factory dressing area where they put on a hairnet and apron and watch a short orientation video describing the candy bar production process.
Each visitor then proceeds with their ticket to a room with six identical touch screens. The guest scans their ticket at the touch screen kiosk and chooses the type of candy bar base they want. The attraction opened with a Hershey’s milk chocolate base, with the ability to add dark chocolate and white chocolate in the future. Visitors also choose up to three inclusions (ingredients) out of a selection of six to have placed in their candy bar.
The inclusions will vary seasonally, but currently include choices such as white chocolate chips, graham cracker cookies, blueberry fruit gels, chocolate cookie bits, crisp rice, and rainbow jimmies. The visitor also makes the choice if they want Hershey’s Kisses® shaped sprinkles topped on the candy bar after it comes out of a chocolate enrober. Periodically, the inclusions will be changed based on popularity of the ingredients. All of the information is then stored in the attraction’s tracking system.
Once the candy bar and inclusions have been chosen, the guest moves into the production area where they have their ticket scanned by a bar code reader underneath a monitor. The screen on the monitor identifies who they are and begins the production process.
Feeders
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| Schenck AccuRate Mechatron volumetric feeders precisely meter the inclusions (ingredients) on to the candy bar. |
At the beginning of the production line a stacking machine picks up the candy bar base and places it on a moving conveyor. The conveyor takes the candy bar into the inclusion area where a total of six volumetric Schenck AccuRate vibratory and screw feeders are waiting to feed or dispense the candy inclusions on to the candy bar.
Four of the six Schenck AccuRate Mechatron® vibratory feeders handle materials like graham cracker cookies, white chocolate chips, chocolate cookie bits, and blueberry fruit gels. These materials are well suited to the vibratory feeder’s ability for handling the inclusions that can be easily damaged. A uniquely designed feed chute gently meters the materials on to the candy bar.
The two Mechatron® screw feeders were the ideal fit for metering rainbow jimmies and rice crisp because they were better at handling materials 5 mm or larger. A ¾ inch helix with end stub and a 1.38” nozzle with end bushing and a custom clean out insert were manufactured for the feeders. The custom nozzle was designed to keep the material and pressure from building up within the feeder.
Choosing Schenck AccuRate
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| A vibratory feeder gently meters an ingredient into the chocolate bar's recessed cavity. |
Krista Cessna, Associate Staff Engineer at The Hershey Company, was one of the key project engineers for the new attraction, recommended Schenck AccuRate based on her positive past experience using Schenck feeders in other Hershey Company production areas. Cessna stated, “along with a reliable history we liked the different technologies that Schenck AccuRate had to offer. It was a bonus to show visitors a variety of processing equipment enhancing their "Create Your Own Candy Bar" experience.”
Another driving force for choosing the Schenck AccuRate feeders was the support The Hershey Company received in finding the right combination of feeding equipment for their various ingredients (inclusions). Multiple tests were conducted in the Schenck AccuRate lab to determine what equipment configurations were ideal for the materials to be fed. After testing was completed,
The Hershey Company chose a combination of six volumetric Mechatron® vibratory and screw feeders because of their precise ability to handle small batch sizes in short time intervals and the versatility to feed a number of different inclusions in both bulk solids metering technologies. Additional support came from the 20 years of working experience with The Hershey Company provided by local Schenck AccuRate representative, Penn Quip, Inc. (Muncy, PA). Their input was instrumental in the successful completion of the project.
The Process (cont’d)
After the candy bar has received its inclusions from the Schenck AccuRate feeders it is moved along the conveyor through the enrobing process where a thick layer of chocolate is spread over the bar and inclusions. Hershey’s KISSES shaped sprinkles are spread over the candy bar, if the guest chose to add them, during the initial programming stage. The sprinkles are added prior to going in the cooling tunnel. While the candy bar is being cooled, visitors go to the design packaging area where a total of nine touch screen monitors allow each guest to custom create an overwrap sleeve for their bar’s container.
Upon leaving the package design area each guest can locate their candy bar in the production process by viewing the electronic status board. After the candy bar leaves the cooling tunnel it enters the packaging area where the bar is placed in an automated cartoning machine. There, the bar is inserted in a carton with the Hershey’s "Create Your Own Candy Bar" attraction logo and the bar code that was used to track the candy throughout the process is laser printed on the box. The carton is then placed in a souvenir tin and the customer’s custom overwrap is placed around the tin. Hershey’s Chocolate World™ attraction employees then match the completed package with the visitor’s ticket and hand them their newly created candy bar, which concludes the Hershey’s "Create Your Own Candy Bar" attraction experience.
Results
Initial reactions to the new Hershey’s "Create Your Own Candy Bar" attraction have been very favorable with the general public. Each year Hershey’s Chocolate World™ attraction draws over 3 million visitors and this attraction is expected to be one of its most popular experiences. Cessna commented, “The support from Schenck AccuRate and reliability of the equipment helped make this a successful project for The Hershey Company and a great consumer attraction for year’s to come.”
Schenck AccuRate
746 E. Milwaukee St
Whitewater, WI 53190
Phone: 262-473-2441
E-mail: mktg@accuratefeeders.com
Web site: http://www.accuratefeeders.com/
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