Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection is showcasing a wide range of stand-alone and fully-integrated automated smart product inspection systems at Interpack 2023. The advanced product inspection technologies on Booth A60 in Hall 11 are all designed to help food manufacturers boost productivity, increase product safety, protect brand reputation and reduce recalls. The full suite of technologies offers high-performance end-to-end inspection capabilities from ingredient stage to label verification. The key new technology launches at Interpack are:
- X-ray Inspection – X2 Series offers high detection sensitivity performance and enhanced product quality control to help reduce product recalls. With two x-ray inspection systems currently in the X2 Series, the X12 and the X32, this future-proof technology is now accessible for all budgets.
- Metal Detection – Innovative SENSE™ software enhancements offer increased metal detection protection and performance capabilities for Mettler-Toledo M30 R-Series metal detection systems. The software allows the M30 R-Series to bring next-level automation and affordable compliance to manufacturers looking to boost their productivity.
- Vision Inspection – 100% automated label inspection solution suite to inspect 100% of products and shapes and identify 100% of label data and quality challenges. Visitors will see the new CV33 with Integrated V13 Flat Pack Label Inspection technology, combining high precision weighing with complete label inspection from the bottom, top, front and back.
“We are delighted to present such innovative advancements in product inspection technologies at Interpack,” said Rainer Mundt, Head of Marketing at Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection, Germany. “We have designed a number of new inspection solutions to help make a real difference to food manufacturers who are looking to boost productivity, save bottom line costs, improve food safety and facilitate compliance. By showcasing our range of inspection systems and data management software we can help take food manufacturers towards a digitalized and sustainable future.”
Visitors to Booth A60 at Interpack can view:
Beyond contaminant detection with X-ray inspection solutions
The brand new X2 Series is on the stand and is designed for the inspection of small and medium packages with a belt width of 300mm and 400mm. X-ray inspection solutions within the X2 Series are positioned to consistently deliver high detection sensitivity capabilities, protecting the safety and quality of food products. A key feature of the system is ContamPlus™ software which enhances detection capabilities to identify a wide range of contaminants, including glass, metal, mineral stone, calcified bone, dense plastic and rubber compounds. The X2 Series is available in two models:
- X12 – A single lane x-ray inspection system with multiple features that delivers great performance at an incredible price point.
- X32 – An advanced x-ray inspection system available in standard and custom configurations, with single or multi-lane capabilities and integrity checks for outstanding detection performance.
Alongside the new X2 series, Mettler-Toledo also offers the X34C compact x-ray inspection system for food manufacturers. The X34C enables foreign object detection in small, individually wrapped snacks and confectionery at high production speeds. X34C thus opens up cost-effective inspection for customers immediately after flow-wrapping or sealing of the individual products. Thanks to its compact design with a footprint of only 700 millimetres in length, the X34C X-ray system is perfectly suited for use in production lines with very limited production space. X34C supports belt speeds of up to 120 metres per minute. This makes it possible for the first time to match x-ray inspection to the high speeds of many form, fill and seal machines, such as those used in the confectionery industries for packaging individual products.
With DXD and DXD+ for the X36 X-ray inspection system, Mettler-Toledo offers its most powerful x-ray inspection technology to date with dual energy detector technology to detect low-density foreign objects in packaged food. The new technology helps food manufacturers avoid product recalls, reduce unnecessary costs in the form of product waste, and improve product integrity and brand protection. The DXD and DXD+ dual energy detector technology is optimised to detect foreign objects such as bones, low mineral glass, rubber as well as various plastics. These types of foreign objects are traditionally difficult to detect in the complex X-ray images produced when inspecting overlapping and multi-textured products such as pasta, chicken breasts, sausages and potato-based frozen goods.
No metal with metal detection systems
The M30 R-Series metal detection systems are the first product family to feature the innovative and ground-breaking SENSE™ software. Showing at Interpack are the enhancements available with the latest SENSE™ software, offering increased productivity and compliance features. The new, intelligent SENSE™ software uses powerful algorithms to deliver high detection sensitivity for all types of metal contaminants. The M30 R-Series is ProdX™ enabled which is demonstrated on a loop at Interpack so visitors can see how the latest metal detection models support digitalization aims, as well as boosting productivity.
The smart systems are aimed at food manufacturers who are looking for the detection of metal contaminants, with a high level of detection sensitivity and future-proof flexibility. With the M30 R-Series, customers have a choice of metal detectors depending on production and compliance requirements as well as budget considerations.
Visitors can also see the M34R PlusLine metal detector which uses dual simultaneous frequency to reduce product effect, in particularly demanding applications. The solution offers higher detection sensitivity, up to 25% improved spherical sensitivity, compared to traditional single frequency systems and significantly reduces false rejects. Typical application examples are wet and/or conductive products such as meat, poultry, seafood and dairy as well as food packaged in metallised film. All M30 R-Series metal detectors can also integrate with a wide range of conveyors, including the Mettler-Toledo GC-Series.
Furthermore Mettler-Toledo is showcasing a free-fall metal detection system featuring ATS (Automatic Test System) which won the Innovation Award for Quality Health, Safety and Environment at CFIA 2019. With ATS, manufacturers can significantly reduce downtime and thus increase their productivity by shortening the time window for testing via automatic feeding of the test pieces. In addition, more accurate results and consistent test processes deliver enhanced compliance benefits.
Label verification with vision inspection
The all new V13 Flat Pack Label Inspection System for food manufacturers fully automates smart inspection of labels on the underside of packages. This solution performs reliable label inspection from the bottom up to check labels on the underside of flat packages. The stand-alone solution offers configurable options for handling materials and can be expanded with smart cameras on the top and sides. Dedicated tools for inspecting label data and label quality enable easy operation of a wide range of applications. The V13 can also be integrated in a combination system with a checkweigher, metal detector or x-ray inspection system to save valuable shop floor space, which will be shown at Interpack in different configurations.
Also, part of the vision inspection range, is the V15 Label Inspection 360° System for inspecting round packaged food and beverage products, using smart cameras with liquid lens technology. The V15 enables complete inspection of label data such as 1D/2D barcodes and plain text on a wide range of round packaged products. In addition, potential quality defects such as label positioning, multiple labelling, skew, wrinkles, creases, print quality and graphic ID are checked for compliance. The cost-effective vision inspection system is ideally suited to replace manual spot checks with fully automated label inspection of products.
Precision weighing with checkweighers
All Mettler-Toledo dynamic checkweighers are now equipped with the patented FlashCell™ Electro Magnetic Force Restoration (EMFR) load cell technology. This technology enables precision weighing at speeds of up to 800 packs per minute. At Interpack, visitors can experience FlashCell™ in action with washdown checkweighers, designed for harsh production environments that support intense and frequent cleaning whilst offering reliable accuracy.
Space saving combination inspection technologies
With mix-and-match combination inspection solutions, Mettler-Toledo focuses on the integration of several inspection technologies in one space-saving device in order to maximise productivity. To ensure that the combination inspection solutions are best adapted to the needs of individual customer requirements, standardised components can be combined with different technologies as required. Specific system options showcased on the booth are:
- CV Combination – a checkweigher combined with vision inspection.
- CMV Combination – a three-in-one solution showing a checkweigher, metal detector with integrated vision inspection.
- CXV Combination – a checkweigher, x-ray inspection and vision inspection.
Going paperless with data management software
With ProdX™, food manufacturers can benefit from fully comprehensive product inspection management, including extensive safety functions, digital track & trace, automatic recording of performance tests and real-time logging of test and compliance data. The highly intuitive software offers paperless documentation of product reject incidents required for compliance, meaning manufacturers can save time filling in forms, filing and collating information for reports and trend analysis. ProdX™ is based on Industry 4.0 principles of secure machine-to-machine communication and prepares connectivity to blockchain technology. The software can digitalize food safety compliance, reduce compliance auditing time and help facilitate faster product recalls.
On the loop
Mettler-Toledo is showcasing its versatile range of product inspection solutions on a loop, connecting the X32 x-ray inspection system, the M34R PlusLine metal detector as well as the CV33 combination solution with checkweighing and integrated V13 Flat Pack Label Inspection system. All these solutions are running live with real products and are connected to the data management software ProdX™, simulating results in real time.
