Polski
A Hexagonal Sieve and Gentler Transport – Two Engineering Highlights of the Week
Sometimes it's not a revolution but a small change in geometry or material that makes the biggest difference in line performance. In this roundup: a sieve that, thanks to a different hole shape, screens more flour per hour, and a drag chain conveyor designed to handle delicate food products more gently than before.
01 · Sifting
Hexagons Instead of Circles: Gericke Boosts Sifting Throughput by 14% [1]
Switzerland's Gericke is proving that when it comes to sifting bulk materials, the devil is in the geometry. The company has developed a perforated sieve plate with hexagonal holes, designed for centrifugal sifters – and it turns out that hole shape alone can change process results more than you might expect.
The secret lies in packing density: hexagons fit together far more tightly than traditional round holes, boosting the sieve's open area by as much as 10.3%. More open area simply means more room for material to pass through freely per unit of time.
In practice, this translated into concrete numbers. In tests with wheat flour on the GS4-722 sieve, throughput rose from 16,567 kg/h to 19,338 kg/h – a 14% increase. In continuous operation, that's a gain that genuinely shortens batch sifting times or allows a larger volume to be handled on the same line – without investing in new equipment.
Importantly for maintenance teams, the new plates were designed as a direct replacement for existing sieves. There's no need to retool the machine or alter its design – you simply swap out a component that requires periodic replacement anyway.
02 · In-Plant Transport
Gentler on Food: Hapman Refreshes Its Tubular Drag Chain Conveyors [2]
If sifting is a game of throughput, in-plant transport in the food industry is often a game of product quality. America's Hapman has unveiled a new generation of tubular drag chain conveyors in which discs made from UHMW – ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene – play a key role.
The solution was designed with mechanically fragile materials in mind – products that are easily crushed, broken, or otherwise damaged in transit. In classic in-plant conveying systems, it's often the transport stage that turns out to be the weakest link – the product loses quality before it even reaches packaging.
Hapman is thus swimming against the "throughput at any cost" mindset, focusing instead on cutting quality losses. The material change in the discs is meant to reduce product damage while retaining the proven tubular drag chain conveyor design – meaning no need to roll out an entirely new transport technology.
03
Two Different Goals, One Lesson
Both cases, though they concern entirely different stages of the process, point to the same principle: in bulk material handling technology, the biggest gains often don't require replacing an entire line – just a well-considered change to a single component, whether it's the shape of a sieve hole or the material of a conveyor disc. It's precisely these "small" engineering decisions that have a real impact on the performance and quality of the final product.
If you'd like to see similar solutions in person, talk to suppliers of sieves, conveyors, and pneumatic transport systems, and find out what else is changing in the industry – join us at SOLIDS Expo Poland – Targi Technologii Materiałów Sypkich. It's the place where these details get discussed directly with the engineers who design them.
Invitation
Higher-throughput sieves, conveyors that protect delicate products – that's just a fraction of what SOLIDS Expo Poland exhibitors will showcase. Visit the show to compare sifting, transport, and bulk material handling solutions in person and talk to the engineers behind these innovations. Find out which upgrade will pay for itself fastest in your installation.
SOLIDS Expo Poland 2026Footnotes
[1] Processing Magazine — https://www.processingmagazine.com/products/product/55404005/gericke-launches-hexagonal-sifter-screen-to-increase-throughput[2] BulkInside — https://bulkinside.com/supplier-news/