KRONEN GmbH recently made improvements to its GS 20 belt cutting machine to achieve better hygiene, improved operational safety and reduced spare parts costs for customers. 

The machine is a classic product in KRONEN’s machine portfolio and processes fruit, vegetables, salad leaves and other food products with a capacity of up to 4,000 kg per hour.  

To ensure that the cutting machine achieves perfect cutting results on a long-term basis, parts such as the roller bearing support holder for the transport belt and downholder belt need to be replaced after a certain amount of time. Until now, this process has required the blocks to be replaced in their entirety. Now, however, the roller bearing support holders have been revised so that only the bearing axle support bars have to be replaced, thus achieving a significant cost reduction. 

These new versions are backward compatible. As a result, a single purchase of new spare parts allows existing models to benefit from long-term savings. 

In terms of the machine’s hygienic design, KRONEN has reduced the number of screw fastenings for the belt and knife box, improved the product discharge and redesigned the blade flange. It has also upgraded the swivel arm, an optional accessory for easier replacement of the cutting disks, to eliminate hollow spaces and reduce the number of screw fastenings. Furthermore, a new function for fixing the carriage improves operational safety by preventing the swivel arm from being nudged unintentionally when the machine is moved. 

The GS 20 has been used by customers in industrial food processing all over the globe for many years. As a multifunctional machine that can be used to cut, pull, shred and grate a variety of products, the GS 20 is a reliable, flexible solution for the food industry. 

“It is important that we always keep learning, developing and making progress rather than simply settling for what we have already achieved. I think that is what truly defines our team at KRONEN,” says Eric Lefebvre, managing director and technical director at KRONEN. “For 40 years, our contact with the industry, the world of research and groups of experts such as the EHEDG has helped us gain new insights in the areas of technology and hygienic design and to implement this knowledge in our development activities. Our aim is to develop solutions that will benefit our customers, and the upgrades to the GS 20 are another prime example of how we achieve this.”