Does anyone have a solution for semi-automatic or automatic Gummy Demolding for DCM (dark city molds)? Currently going by hand and looking to speed up the process while taking out the monotony of the process.
Looking at one of these, but not sure how the molds will hold up over time?
What about packaging machines for Gummy’s?
-G
Saw these at Bizcon. Very sweet machine.
The price is a bit steep. But they mimic proper demolding technique and are better on your molds long term and depending on your throughput it might be easier to buy than to pay someone to demold. For reference, we make about 1 million pcs/month and basically have to have someone constantly on demold (pectin gummies). The demolder you suggested is usually used with the thinner Boldmaker style amazon molds.
Packaging machines depends heavily on your packaging, there’s different solutions out there for one or the other, but none that are really any good at doing both.
What did they quote you on this?
$51k off the shelf for an 11-row demolder and $54k if I needed something custom made.
This was ~6 months ago.
Thanks for the link and beta, I will check it out for sure. We are maybe at 150,000-300,000 units per month and feel we are already in need of machinery for demolding and bagging, or rather we can financially justify it. Located in a small resort town so our labor pool is small.
We use pouches, been looking at Paxiom and Leafy Pack for a solution there.
Are you spraying your molds with oil before hand?
Thanks!
I have used this machine before. I found it to be no faster than I could do by hand.
That’s very true, but it also means you need a set of hands that is capable of keeping up with the constant throughput of a machine that anyone could feed molds into. You might be faster across a single mold/batch, but I think the machine wins long-term.
Also not to mention that your mold design might be simpler than his and thus easier to demold faster.
No, we don’t use oil. It’s a huge mess and doesn’t really help us speed up demolding at all.
Leafy Pack and Paxiom are just rebranded Chinese weighing heads and packaging lines.
You might need more water in your formula and longer dry times if release agent doesn’t help.
It’s not that it doesn’t help at all, I guess rather it doesn’t improve it enough to be worth the added time/effort associated with it for us. Although we have plentiful labor
we have the BP/infusent unit. like you said, on one single mold, it’s not a ton faster than a person. but when you’re emptying 100+molds a day, in tandem with the sugar sander/coater, it’s faster without a doubt.
you do have to use the bold maker molds though, which are not cheap.
Any Recommendations on small scale sugar coaters?
Can you run Dark City Molds on that machine?
@Shrimp @ZizzleB Either of you open for an hour consult to chat Equiptment and Scaling up? Lmk
I’ve been working with an engineer installing food packaging equipment. Everything is custom designed to cater to your exact needs. We have lots of packaging equipment available and I have personally installed these machines . We have machines for just packaging or even full on systems that will deposit and demold your product. We offer solutions that can scale your company to your biggest dreams . Reach out if your have any questions or are interested in more !
Pls pm
I was thinking maybe have a 3d printed frame/insert for your molds and it has hardened silicone sticks like lollipop sticks behind the mold that you just run your hand across and the gummies come out or it makes it easier to hit the mold on a table gently and they all come up and then you can have someone else sort and package them.
I think you could make stainless trays that match the mold and use a wheel with protruding sticks on it set up with a gear aligned to the table to keep the position correct. Just push the tray forward, wheel spins and pops them out, pull back and reload
Spring loaded on the pull back and locks into place. 
Could 3d print tiny fda food grade silicone hardened small heads like that are on reflex hammers that can help knock out the gummies. If you did a by hand version that has no wheel.
Infusent said we had to switch our molds to BM for it to work… but our molds were shit. Dark city’s are pretty comparable to BM so I would be surprised if they didn’t work, assuming the width of the mold fits through the Infusent demolder.
as for your scale, 150,000-300,000 pieces per month, Idk if you are gonna want anything smaller than that infusent sugar coating unit. I know it is expensive, but it’s pretty sweet. it’s made for gummy coating, whereas other candy panners are better suited for coating not so sticky items.
Gummy Tech has a smaller panner you may wanna check out.. the CP1000 or something like that. pretty basic candy panner than you can probably find from other brands as well… but that’s really all I can think of that’s cheaper/smaller than the Infusent unit.
You using pectin or gelatin? or both?
definitely open to chat with you if you think it’d be helpful.
could 3d print it in a way that makes the frame like a rail and you have a few twist pins that you secure with a washer that never comes off the frame…. make it so it fits different size molds.
Just Pectin, definitely looking to chat. -G
