As the old saying goes, “buy cheap, buy twice”. We’ve
all been in a situation where we opted for a less expensive product
only to regret it later due to it falling apart earlier than expected,
or requiring costly upkeep. Making a purchasing decision solely on the
price tag of the product in front of you is never a good idea and
nowhere is this truer than when selecting a product inspection machine
for your food processing line.
To comply with safety regulations
in the food industry as well as metrology legislation, it is critical
to make use of product inspection systems, such as metal detectors,
checkweighers or x-ray inspection equipment. These technologies are
vital for identifying and rejecting products contaminated with foreign
bodies, including metal, glass or stone, instances of over- or
underweight products, and packs with broken or misshapen components.
However, selecting the wrong product inspection equipment for your line
can add unnecessary expense through maintenance, wasted product or
increased downtime while also putting your ability to comply with
regulations at risk.
It is important that, prior to taking that
financial plunge, you ask yourself, “What are the costs to my processing
line of this product inspection machine? What are the benefits”? To
facilitate this decision, we’ve compiled a simple checklist of issues to
be taken into consideration when calculating the benefits of your
product inspection system.
Does it meet the needs of your production line?
Before
making a purchasing decision regarding new product inspection
equipment, it is important for you to consider the needs of your line.
Do you require a machine to detect metal or glass, or other physical
contaminants? Is product weight a principal concern? Are you having
issues with missing or broken components in your finished packs?
If
the first is the biggest challenge for your production line, you should
consider a metal detector or x-ray inspection system. A checkweigher
would be the most suitable technology for the inspection of product
weight, while an x-ray system would be ideal for overcoming the third
challenge. You may require a range of product inspection equipment on
your line to comply with industry safety standards, such as the British
Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standards, or legislation including the
UK’s 1985 Weights and Measures Act, while ensuring other quality
parameters are met.
To determine the needs of your line
regarding contaminant detection and guarantee that the correct
investment is being made, be sure to undertake a comprehensive Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) audit of your manufacturing
processes. This is an in-depth study that forms the basis of many food
safety standards, including BRC Global Standards and other Global Food
Safety Initiative (GFSI) approved guidelines. It helps you identify the
points in your processes most vulnerable to contamination as well as the
most likely forms of contamination that will occur. For example, if the
principal contaminant threat is from metal fragments, then a metal
detector would be the ideal technology to invest in. If glass shards or
bones or stones are more likely, then an x-ray inspection system would
be more suitable.
As well as deciding what the most suitable
technology will be for your production line, you should look at which
other features you might need to ensure compliance with food safety and
quality standards. Product inspection systems with due diligence
enhancements, such as lockable reject bins and HMIs accessible only
using a high-security password, for example, can eliminate the risk of
tampering that can result in rejected products being replaced on the
processing line or in unauthorised adjustments to the machine’s
operating settings. Some product inspection systems are capable of
storing records of login attempts to help you to identify when access to
the system has been attempted and by whom. It is important to identify
the control and security needs of your processing line by researching
the requirements of the safety regulations to which you must comply.
How does the cost of installation weigh against the savings?
On
top of the machine’s initial price tag, it is important to take into
account the installation costs. These include production downtime due to
integration of the new technology and the cost of engineering time for
set up. You should take into account the disposal of the old equipment,
and the time spent training staff to ensure they understand and can
operate the new system.
Be sure you have selected product
inspection equipment that is easy to install on existing lines. Machines
that have a small footprint or combination systems, such as those
featuring metal detection and checkweighing, can be integrated simply
into processing lines with restricted space. Metal detection systems
with Internal Cancellation Field (ICF) technology can be located next to
other machinery without compromising detection sensitivity, further
facilitating installation.
Pay attention to the nature of the
Human Machine Interface (HMI) of the product inspection system you are
considering. Features such as digital touchscreens and intuitive
software can make the technology much more straightforward for your
staff to use, minimising training time and expense. They can also
simplify the setup of the new technology for your production line,
saving you time and allowing your line to return to production as
quickly as possible.
What are the perks of precision?
Is the
product inspection system sensitive enough? Inspection precision can
have a major impact on your production line, not just enhancing
detection capability for physical contaminants, but enabling you to
minimise costly product waste.
The installation of a more
sensitive metal detector or x-ray inspection system than alternative
solutions can minimise costly false rejects where compliant product is
inaccurately deemed non-confirming. It can also eliminate the threat of
false positives, which are contaminated products that pass undetected
through the processing line, and therefore decrease the likelihood of an
expensive product recall with the financial sanctions and damage to
reputation that can result. Metal detectors or x-ray inspection systems
that are more sensitive than alternatives can ensure you detect ever
smaller foreign bodies in your products, maximising consumer safety.
Consider
a line processing 100 packs per minute, operating for 20 hours per day,
250 days a year. The typical cost per pack is €1. If a standard metal
detector has a false reject rate of 1 pack per 5000, then as many as
6000 packs per year will be wrongly removed from the line, wasting some
€6000 each year, in addition to the time and expense of reworking the
product. However, if you choose a more sensitive metal detector, with a
reject rate of just 1 pack per 10 000 packs, then your line will have a
false reject rate of just 3000 packs per year, with a saving of €3000.
By
installing a checkweigher on your line, you can identify instances of
product under- and overfill. This not only enables you to comply with
weights and measures legislation, it can help you save money from wasted
product given away in overfilled packs that can be removed from
production and reworked.
Imagine that a processing line fills 20
cans per minute. Production occurs in three seven-hour shifts, 230 days
per year. If an average overfill of 10 grams per can was found and the
costs for the content of the can amounts to €0.0001 per gram, this
results in €5,796 loss per year. By using a checkweigher to identify
this overfill, the line could regain much of this lost profit every
year. If you invest in a more sensitive checkweigher, able to measure
weight with greater accuracy than alternative systems, you can set it to
tighter tolerances to catch even minor instances of product overfill so
you can reduce waste. If you are able to reduce average overfill to
just 5 grams, for example, you would save €2,898 each year.
Additional
checkweighing features, such as feedback control, can also result in
financial gain. This innovative technology connects with the filling
machines earlier in the production line and controls their output based
on data from the checkweighing system. It automatically reduces or
increases portion sizes according to weighing information in real time,
minimising expensive product overfill.
What about the spare parts?
Have
you considered the availability of spare parts for the product
inspection equipment you intend to purchase? Will your machine require
extensive maintenance in the coming years? The robustness of the
technology should be evaluated as maintenance and repair can impact the
total cost of owning any machine.
Machines designed to operate
in humid conditions and withstand harsh wash-down regimes have low
maintenance needs for optimum performance. Check the Ingress Protection
(IP) rating of the product inspection machine to ensure it is able to
withstand the humidity and chemical environment of your production line.
Features such as granulate conveyor systems with extra wide belts and
mechanism casings milled from a single block of plastic can protect the
conveyor motors and rollers from the damaging effects of ingress of
granular or particulate products, such as salt or sugar. These can lead
to premature corrosion or increase friction between components,
increasing maintenance requirements.
Speak to your supplier to
determine the availability of any necessary spare parts. Product
inspection systems with non-standard central processing units (CPUs) may
be more difficult and more expensive to maintain, as the spare parts
for the CPU may be harder to source. It’s ideal to select a product
inspection equipment supplier with a reputation for short lead times on
spare components to minimise downtime.
A machine fit for the future?
Also
consider the flexibility of the product inspection system. Food safety
standards are not static but rather constantly change to protect
consumer wellbeing. It is important that the product inspection system
can adapt to potential changes to industry guidelines without
significant expenditure.
Look for product inspection systems
capable of enhancing production line flexibility. Features such as
easy-to-use HMIs with stored or variable product setup configurations
can facilitate changeover of the processing line to new products,
allowing you to respond more quickly to fluctuating market demand. Opt
for metal detectors that make use of Variable Frequency Technology,
which automatically selects the optimum detection frequency for the
product to be inspected, overcoming the “product effect” or electrical
signal created by wet or conductive products without compromising
detection sensitivity. They can be set up for a potentially unlimited
number of product changeovers, enabling you to process limited and
seasonal product runs with productivity in mind.
Select product
inspection systems from product inspection equipment suppliers that
offer vision inspection and serialisation technology. This will enable
you to adapt quickly to changes in food safety regulations that require
traceability of products. Vision inspection systems are capable of
examining information on pack labels, including pack weight, price and
ingredient information and can track packs as they pass to the cartoning
stage to palletisation to the transport that will take them to
retailers. Such technology can enhance control over the production line,
allowing you to demonstrate due diligence in the event of a product
recall and protecting your brand’s reputation.
A reliable supplier?
Above
all, it is vital you assess the reputation of your product inspection
equipment partner before making the final decision regarding any new
technology. A supplier known for quality and able to offer guidance at
every stage will be best placed to help you find the most suitable
solution for your needs.
Evaluate the service offering from the
supplier. They should provide expert engineers to install and set up the
new product inspection system as well as train line operatives.
Suppliers with remote service support can monitor the performance of
your equipment in real time, ensuring your product inspection system
always operates at peak performance.
A strong and trusted
supplier will act as a partner, ensuring your product inspection
technology supports and enhances the performance of your processing
line. This will not only help you comply with global food safety
standards, it will enable you to enhance production efficiency, reduce
product waste and save money.
A checklist for quality
Selecting
your new product inspection system can be daunting. It is important to
remember that your technology choice will determine not only whether you
comply with regulations, but also whether you save money and protect
your profit margins. When shopping around for your new processing line
machinery, be sure to consult this checklist to help you calculate the
benefit and potential costs to your production line.
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About the author
Neil
Giles is Marketing Communications Manager at the Mettler-Toledo Product
Inspection Division of Mettler-Toledo, based in the UK. He currently
specialises across all four main product inspection technologies, which
are x-ray, metal detection, vision inspection, Pharmacontrol Electronic
GmbH (PCE) and checkweighing. A member of the Chartered Institute of
Marketing, he has over 20 years of experience in the food and
pharmaceutical industries and has extensive knowledge of equipment for
the packaging, process weighing and inspection sectors.
About Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection
Mettler-Toledo
Safeline is the world’s leading supplier of metal detection and x-ray
inspection solutions for the food and pharmaceutical industries.
Together with Garvens Checkweighing, CI-Vision and Pharmacontrol
Electronic GmbH (PCE), Mettler-Toledo Safeline forms the Product
Inspection division of Mettler-Toledo.
Mettler-Toledo develops,
produces and markets precision instruments worldwide. The company is one
of the largest suppliers of weighing and quality control systems in the
world, whose products are used in laboratories as well as industrial
processing and food retailing applications. Renowned producers of all
conceivable everyday products rely on Mettler-Toledo's technology as an
important aid to delivering consistent product quality and innovative
developments. These producers reap the benefits of the company's global
presence and sales and service network.
Mettler-Toledo's
corporate philosophy centres around high-quality standard and tailored
solutions. The company forms a true partnership with its customers
providing support during the selection of appropriate systems and
working together to develop unique solutions which increase process
efficiency, reduce overall manufacturing costs and improve
competitiveness.
(The writer is Marketing and Communications Manager, Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection Division)
