Page 32 - Food & Drink Magazine October 2019

PACKAGING EQUIPMENT & MATERIALS
For good measure
In-line product inspection systems are the only choice for achieving fast manufacturing and packaging processes without compromising quality, Diverseco GM Packaging and Inspection Auke de Ruyter
de Wildt explains.
FOOD manufacturers know the importance of the weighing processes used during production.
When in-line product inspection systems such as checkweighers, X-ray machines and metal detectors are properly integrated into manufacturing and packaging processes (with the help of an expert systems integrator like us) food manufacturers can achieve phenomenal throughput speeds while maintaining complete and continuous control over product quality.
The best quality dynamic checkweighers do just that, inspecting goods in-line according to numerous parameters while the belt is
running at high-speed and the products are in motion throughout the entire process. Incorrect weights are rejected accordingly by the integrated rejection system.
Food manufacturers are, quite rightly, concerned about supplying underweight products or possibly violating stringent trade laws (where a product is sold on weight or product count).
For this reason, most food manufacturers use a checkweigher as an underweight product ‘policeman’ to prevent against negative tolerance.
In fact, it is not uncommon for many manufacturers to routinely build in a ‘buffer’ of extra product to ensure the product is not underweight.
While the ‘buffer’ may only be small, it adds to considerable product giveaway when multiplied by tens of thousands of items.
Because of this, checkweighers should be used as a production tool to increase productivity and profit.
When every gram counts, high performance checkweighers can weigh products precisely at top speeds, and enable manufacturers to run to the declared nominal weight on the package.
This results in less product giveaway and increased profit not to mention reduced risk of costly product recalls.
UNPARALLELED PRECISION
The in-line checkweighers produced by German manufacturer WIPOTEC-OCS are renowned for providing pinpoint weighing accuracy at speeds up to 650 pieces per minute, depending on the application.
This means that each individual product is transported, positioned and weighed within a split second.
Only the most sophisticated checkweighers can detect underfilling and overfilling and perform product completeness checks at these speeds.
To achieve these throughput speeds and still attain the repeatable pinpoint accuracy to prevent product giveaway, false
rejects and production disruption, you have to employ the latest technology.
For these reasons, our customers really rely on WIPOTEC-OCS patented, innovative ElectroMagnetic Force Restoration (EMFR) weighing technology that provides lightning-fast weighing results.
The benefit of the EMFR weigh cell over typical strain gauge technology, is that they have an incredibly short settling time between weighing each item and this provides for unparalleled reliability, precision and repeatability.
When every gram counts at high throughput, this is a significant advantage.
WIPOTEC-OCS checkweighers are highly modular, compact devices that can include up to 16 easily integrated EMFR weigh cells with simultaneous charging.
As any production manager appreciates, checkweighers can also be used in production environments where sensitive devices are subject to external disturbances that are similar to small tremors.
This background ‘noise’ can easily cause checkweighers to generate incorrect readings and false rejects.
For this reason, WIPOTEC- OCS checkweighers are fitted Active Vibration Compensation technology (AVC) that enables
The WIPOTECH-OCS Checkweigher Conveyer up close.
32 | Food&Drink business | October 2019 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au