One-Shot Chocolate Moulding: Semi-Automatic vs Automatic

In traditional filled-chocolate production, the mould is coated with a chocolate shell, cooled, filled with a centre, then closed with a chocolate base — three deposits and two cooling passes. One-shot collapses that into a single operation. A concentric nozzle lays the outer chocolate and the inner filling at the same time, so the shell forms around the centre as both flow into the mould.

This matters for anyone forming pralines or filled bars. Fewer deposit stations means a shorter machine, fewer temperature zones to manage, and less product handling between steps. The trade-off is that one-shot depends on tightly matched viscosities and temperatures between shell and filling — which is why dosing precision separates a good line from a frustrating one.

Both our lines run one-shot. They shape, mould, and cool bars, pralines, truffles, candies, and figurines, with or without filling. Chocolate moulds are supplied with the line, matched to the products you intend to make.

Two figures describe a moulding line's output, and they measure different things. Moulds per minute is the mechanical cadence — how many mould plates pass through the depositor each minute. Kilograms per hour is the mass of chocolate deposited in that time. They are related, but not the same, and it is worth understanding why before you compare machines.

The kg/h figure depends on how much chocolate each mould carries. A mould full of large bars deposits far more mass per cycle than a mould of small pralines, even at the identical mould/min cadence. So a line running fewer moulds per minute can still move more kilograms per hour if the products are heavier — which is exactly the pattern you see when comparing our two machines.

This is why we quote both numbers. The mould/min figure tells you the throughput ceiling for a given product; the kg/h range tells you the mass you can realistically expect across the product mix. When you request a quote, the target capacity and the products you plan to run together determine which end of each range applies to you.

The M-540 is our semi-automatic one-shot line: 200-500 kg/h at 15-18 moulds/min, 35 kW, in a footprint of L 6000 × W 950 × H 1700 mm. It shapes, moulds, and cools bars, pralines, truffles, candies, and figurines in a single deposit.

Semi-automatic means an operator is part of the cycle — loading, monitoring, and managing product changes at the machine rather than from a central screen. That suits a workshop or a growing chocolatier who runs varied batches and wants hands-on control over each run. Its shorter footprint also fits floor plans where a full industrial line would not.

For a producer moving off bench moulding and manual filling, the M-540 is the first real one-shot step. It delivers meaningful throughput without the floor space or operator model of a fully automatic line.

The M-560 is the automatic line: 300-600 kg/h at 12-16 moulds/min, 35 kW, in a footprint of L 13055 × W 1775 × H 2630 mm. Note the cadence — fewer moulds per minute than the M-540, yet a higher kg/h ceiling. That is the mass-per-mould relationship in practice: the M-560 is built to run heavier, denser mould loads at industrial volume.

Dosing is handled by a Siemens servomotor system, with a PLC touchscreen for recipe and temperature control, Festo pneumatics, and FAG bearings. The depositor is hot-water tempered, and mould, tunnel, and depositor temperatures are each regulated on the panel rather than by hand. The build is modular: optional units add hazelnut, granule, or biscuit inclusion for products that need particulate centres or toppings.

The M-560 suits a factory scaling into steady industrial runs where automation, recipe repeatability, and reduced operator dependence matter more than the ability to reconfigure by hand between small batches. Both machines appear on the /machines/moulding-lines/ page with full spec plates.

The choice comes down to how you run production, not only how much you make. Choose the M-540 when product variety is high, batches are shorter, floor space is limited, and you want an operator in the loop — the semi-automatic model rewards flexibility. Choose the M-560 when you are running longer, more consistent industrial batches and want servomotor-driven dosing, panel-controlled temperatures, and inclusion options to carry the throughput with less manual involvement.

Cost follows the same drivers — throughput, automation level, footprint, and optional units — rather than any list figure. We size and quote each line to the products, capacity target, and plant constraints you give us; delivery and lead time are confirmed with each quotation.

Whichever line you choose, moulded chocolate needs controlled cooling immediately after deposit, and one-shot products in particular set as the shell firms around the filling. We pair both lines with the M-590 cooling tunnel — 5,000-9,000 kcal/h across a 20-metre tunnel, with the length configurable to match line output. A tunnel sized to the deposit rate keeps setting even at full cadence; see /machines/cooling-tunnels/ for the detail. A complete forming-to-finishing line, and where moulding sits within it, is laid out on /solutions/confectionery-and-candy-lines/.