THOKS: reliable coffee cake freezing with the DirectDrive Stacker

The coffee cake line at THOKS’s Waltershausen plant runs on a 24-hour production schedule. For three of those hours, the line stopped so that the spiral freezer could defrost. In this area, THOKS had been using a discontinued plastic stacker that never performed well. Over the years, the maintenance team had tried various fixes, but even with extensive modifications and weekly scheduled maintenance, the system remained prone to breakdowns and poor performance.

THOKS needed a self-stacking spiral freezer that would fit within its limited existing footprint and allow both freezers to keep running. Most of the available options would have required a new freezer enclosure or a plant expansion.

ICS, an Intralox OEM partner, proposed the Intralox DirectDrive Stacker. This lightweight modular plastic solution is an extension of the Intralox DirectDrive System. It combines the hygiene and space-saving benefits of a stacker with the simple, reliable operation of direct drive.

ICS created a project plan with minimal downtime. In three days, ICS removed the original equipment, installed the new stacker and carried out the system tests.

• Installed and tested within three days
• Production resumed immediately after testing, without any problems
• Maintenance time on the freezer reduced to zero
• Improved freezer performance and reliability within the same footprint