Fortress dual lane combi doubles down on dairy inspection waste
In a space-saving product inspection breakthrough , Fortress Technology has custom-engineered a unique twin aperture metal detector and dual lane Raptor checkweigher for one of the world ’ s premium dairy companies , helping to halve waste . dynamic weight monitoring with minimal customisations to existing product feed and packing lines , the hygienic dual lane design also targets operational inefficiencies , notably upstream product giveaway , non-conforming food packs and packaging waste .
Receiving shredded cheese pouches directly from a dual head bagger , the bold design unlocks substantial space and cost savings for the busy dairy plant . Offering a customised solution that no other food inspection company could come close to in performance attributes , the twin lane conveyor configuration , consolidates a single Fortress metal detector uniquely divided into two apertures and two independent weight verification Raptor checkweighers for optimised quality control . Each technology and lane has its own air blast reject mechanism to isolate metal contaminants and weight rejects , helping to reduce and minimise good product being wasted by over 50 percent .
For the producer of some of the world ’ s most iconic cheese brands , compromising on metal detection sensitivity was not an option . Highlighting the benefits of the multi-aperture metal detector concept European commercial manager Jodie Curry expands : “ The high-spec Fortress multi-aperture system was engineered specifically to ensure that that there was no trade-off in terms of performance and metal detection sensitivity . One of the key benefits of a twin aperture system is the halving of waste caused by rejects .”
For optimal metal detection sensitivity the two compact apertures - measuring just 102mm in height by 254mm wide - means that the packs pass individually right through the centre point of the metal detector .
“ With output per hour being such a critical productivity benchmark , this
22 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk game-changing multi-aperture design facilitates high speed and accurate metal detection and marks a step change for lean manufacturers seeking to reduce factory footprint and improve Total Cost of Ownership ” notes Jodie .
Fully integrated with the dairy plants ’ upstream and downstream equipment and matching the 120-140 ppm output speed of the dual head VFFS bagging system , the compact geometry of the customised radius conveyor facilitates the positioning and orientation of product packs as they smoothly round the corner towards the metal detector . Providing optimal spacing between product packs as they are presented to each metal detector aperture helps to avoid congestion , bottlenecks and flexible packaging formats overlapping which could lead to sensitive weight verification checks being distorted .
Additionally , the unique design gives the plant extra inspection and weight verification capacity , as two different product lines , pack sizes or SKUs can be run simultaneously adjacent to each other .
Air blast nozzles located between the two outfeed conveyors efficiently and independently remove contaminated product into lockable reject bins equipped with reject confirmation and bin full sensors .
Using compatible collective parts , the inaugural integration of the new Raptor Checkweigher marks another big milestone for the inspection specialist . Delivering
To ensure absolute traceability and compliance with retailer Codes of Practice and QA protocols , both the metal detector and Raptor checkweigher capture easy to read live OEE data . Enabling the dairy group to establish the operational parameters and extract statistics most valuable to their business , for instance volume , weight , inspection speed , rejects or downtime .
Equipped with Contact Reporter software , the dairy plant has the facility to export and convert time-stamped production data . “ This level of cohesive reporting on a multi-lane system provides valuable upstream trend feedback to boost operational efficiencies ,” notes Jodie .
Constructed to the highest food grade standards , the modular 200mm wide conveyor assembly , conveyor decks and belts are all designed to be easily removed from the machine for rapid deep sanitation and maintenance . Operatives simply unclip and disconnect the conveyor motor . In just seconds , the conveyor belt is removed , and the belt tension and tracking is instantly restored when clipped back into place . All without using a single tool .
In 2021 , the Fortress Raptor series won the prestigious Food Processing Lean Manufacturing accolade . Commending the natural synergy between metal detection and weight verification technology , judges hailed the high operational efficiency , cost savings and utilisation of common elements .
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