Advancements in Combination Systems to Include Vision Inspection
Challenged by evolving regulatory and safety demands , and with space at a premium in their production plants , food manufacturers can find a solution with combination product inspection systems . Here , Frank Borrmann , Market Manager Mettler-Toledo Garvens writes about taking this a stage further , with checkweighing and contaminant detection technologies now also integrated with vision inspection technology within a single device . This three-in-one solution gives manufacturers a non-stop view of packaging and label quality .
THE IMPORTANCE OF VISION INSPECTION There is a lot for food manufacturers to consider these days . Increasingly they need to be able to demonstrate traceability at both product and batch levels . This is especially so in ‘ sensitive ’ products , such as baby food , where the consumer is incredibly vulnerable . In these cases , the products are starting to be individually serialized helping to add another layer of food safety and consumer protection such as instant
4 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk traceability , product recalls and real-time authentication .
Across the food manufacturing sector , increasingly strict regulations are placing greater emphasis on vision inspection technology as a means to enhance product quality and safety , as well as carry out the data collection that creates the foundation for traceability .
COVID-19 has also contributed to the increased importance of vision inspection on the production line . For example , manual spot check sampling on the production line has been complicated by social distancing requirements , meaning fewer people can perform inspection duties within a defined space . Yet they still need to carry out that inspection task , especially since retailers are never shy of claiming financial compensation when products on their shelves are found to have faulty barcoding . Vision inspection requires no social distancing and can also check every single product .
Food manufacturers grappling with these issues know that there are multiple product inspection technologies – metal detection , x-ray , checkweighing , vision and track and trace – available that can help them respond to evolving market requirements : the problem has been physically fitting all of this equipment into already cramped production and packaging facilities .
THE SOLUTION The answer from product inspection technology providers such as Mettler- Toledo was to develop combination systems , using the checkweigher as the core technology . Traditionally , these combined two separate product inspection technologies as standard - a checkweigher with a metal detector or with an x-ray system within a single frame . Now we can integrate three technologies in one off-the-shelf system , or even more as a customised solution , saving a huge amount of factory floor space for our customers .