X-ray inspection system for food quality assurance

minebea0519 Success Story

With his X-ray inspection systems "Dylight" enables Minebea Intec safe and reliable inspection of raw materials and packaged products in the food industry. The continuous development of the systems not only increases the efficiency, but also the flexibility in the selection of possible packaging materials.

To ensure high and assured quality for the consumer, the prevention of contamination in food and beverages is one of the most important tasks. Unrecognized foreign bodies can lead to health damage, expensive recall campaigns and a significant image loss. Therefore, along the industrial standards such as HACCP, IFS and BRC, food producers around the world are making great efforts to avoid such problems during production. Different technologies are used to detect contamination. For example, metal detectors are suitable for detecting minute metallic foreign bodies, vision systems for identifying deviations in parameters such as size, shape and color, and hyperspectral imaging for spectral analysis of food or packaging quality. X-ray inspection is another method of detecting foreign bodies in the product.

Sweeteners guaranteed without foreign bodies

minebea20519 Very good experience with X-ray inspection for the detection of impurities in the production of sweeteners and their packaging has the HCP Health Care Products Ltd. made. Founded more than 25 years ago, the British company is also known by the slogan "The Sweetener Company": It manufactures sweetener products for major brands and supermarkets in the UK and around the world and is one of the UK's largest manufacturers in this segment. For one of its customers and its packaging, HCP was looking for a reliable inspection solution: the affected containers are sealed with a screw cap and an additional metal foil. This film prevented safe inspection with a metal detector because metallic foreign bodies could not be clearly identified among the sweetener tablets.

"There are two ways to solve this situation," explains Dr. med. Ing. Thorsten Vollborn, Global Product Manager at Minebea Intec: "One option is to change the process so that the metal detection can be performed before the final closure of the packaging. However, this process would entail a risk of contamination that customers and we in no way incur. The better choice is an X-ray inspection device that allows for safe detection of any contaminants in the already closed container. "

Fast solution through reliable partner

In the search for a reliable supplier of suitable X-ray inspection systems, the HCP team initially found several companies, but ultimately the British convinced Minebea Intec. The decision was made quickly for the X-ray inspection system "Dylight": The sales representative of Minebea Intec demonstrated to the team of HCP the capabilities of the system in a realistic test situation. 400 passed error-free products through the plant, without even one being eliminated by mistake. Subsequently, introduced, defective products, however, were detected safely. This impressive demonstration convinced sweetener producers that the Dylight system was the perfect solution for their needs. With a detection sensitivity of 1,2 mm for all metals, the entry-level solution Dylight already fulfilled the specifications absolutely reliably in the required speed.

The team from Minebea Intec UK also convinced in the further development of the cooperation. HCP was under pressure and needed the X-ray system immediately. Minebea Intec was able to deliver Dylight within just two weeks, and then assisted the user during commissioning and all the questions that arise. Bob Seaborne, Director of HCP, later confirmed: "We have had a great experience with this project. It all worked out the way we wanted it - from fast delivery to performance to reliability on the fly. We are very satisfied and will continue to use the services of Minebea Intec in the future. "

X-ray inspection systems for a wide variety of applications

Minebea Intec's portfolio of X-ray inspection systems includes many more options besides HCP's Dylight solution. For example, the global supplier has developed Dymond Bulk, an X-ray inspection system for bulk materials that enables the efficient detection and elimination of all types of foreign objects when inspecting goods imported "directly from the field" into the production process. Dymond Bulk has excellent detection performance on raw materials such as vegetables, nuts, dried fruits or cereals.

In addition to these x-ray inspection systems, Minebea Intec also offers a wide range of high-speed separation systems, certified test parts and SPC @ Enterprise statistical process control software to enable high-performance complete systems for food production. In addition to its standard systems, the Group realizes customer-specific solutions for the wide variety of food products and their packaging, which also meet special requirements with regard to product handling, contamination detection and quality checks.

Future developments

As the latest developments in the sideshooter segment, Minebea Intec will shortly present Dymond D and a new edition of the Dymond S for horizontal X-ray inspection. In comparison to previous systems, these further developments offer the user an increase in performance for more throughput or products with a higher density as well as a simplified integration into the production lines. The new systems are suitable for the reliable inspection of canned goods, Tetra Paks or other tall, upright packaging made of glass, metal or plastics.

With the two further developments, Minebea Intec also wants to make a contribution to reducing the proportion of plastic packaging in the food industry in favor of more environmentally friendly materials: "Our new X-ray inspection solutions are intended to open up more design options for industry for their products and their packaging materials and container sizes, without sacrificing safety of neglecting consumers, ”explains Thorsten Vollborn. The introduction of the new systems is expected in February this year.