Food Marketing & Technology - India June 2019 | Page 47

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separate products in free-fall. The product is fed onto
a vibratory conveyor that spreads the ‘Drumstick
Squashies’ evenly and in a single layer. It then goes
into a free-fall and passes the scanning area, where
several technologies are combined to detect different types of
defects such as mis-shaped sweets or multiple sweets joined
together.
During the free-fall, the product is inspected with laser scanning
technology to identify contaminated products or foreign objects
that are not visible to the naked eye. Special high-resolution
cameras developed by TOMRA sort the product based on color
and outline. In addition, the Nimbus can separate the articles
by biological characteristics. This combination of technologies
perfectly addresses the challenge of reliably detecting imperfect
products.
When a defect is detected, a powerful burst of air removes the
imperfect product from the stream. It is then inspected a second
time to make sure no good product is rejected.
Matt Whatcott explains: “Before using a TOMRA sorter, we used
manual labor to remove any imperfect sweets that may have been
created during the process. The task was challenging due to sweets
passing by the manual inspection operators with one side face-
down on a conveyor. This meant that it was not always possible
for them to identify a defect as the inspection only covered around
60% of the surface area of the sweets. The inspection task was also
monotonous, meaning that focus could wane over time.
“TOMRA’s Nimbus has enabled us to establish a more automated
production line with greater rigour around the quality inspection
of our product. We have much higher confidence in our ability
to supply sweets that are only of the optimum standard to our
consumers.”
Focus on the customer’s
specific requirements
The Nimbus sorter is also a very good fit with Swizzels’ space and
operational requirements. “The footprint of the machine was also
critical, since the space available in the factory was very limited,
and the Nimbus is a very compact machine which can handle a
high product throughput,” explains Nicolas Stein.
Another advantage of the machine is that it was especially designed
and proven in dusty environments, making it particularly well
suited for conditions at the Swizzels factory which can become
dusty with the starch. It is also easy to maintain and operate, as the
free-fall principle means there are no moving parts on the machine.
A satisfied customer
Matt Whatcott concludes: “TOMRA’s Nimbus has enabled us to
establish a more automated production line with greater rigour
around the quality inspection of our product. We have much
higher confidence in our ability to supply sweets that are only
of the optimum standard to our consumers. It has allowed us
to achieve a more consistent, high quality product, develop our
business and meet the demand of our consumers.”
Food Marketing & Technology
47
June 2019