Are your employees spending too much time inspecting food products as they pass along the production line? Do you worry that workers might miss something important, such as contaminants in products or items that don’t meet your weight requirements?
No matter how dedicated your employees are, they’re only human. If your business cares about accuracy and efficiency, installing inline food inspection systems is a smart choice.
Below, you’ll learn how to maximize efficiency with inline food inspection systems such as checkweighers, x-ray machines, and food metal detectors.
Types of Inline Food Inspection Systems
First things first, what type of product inspection system do you need? Depending on the products your business produces, you may need more than one system. Here’s an overview of how each type of system works.
- Metal detectors: If you’re concerned about screws or metal shavings ending up in your products, you’ll need a metal detector or two. These systems can detect ferrous and non-ferrous metals, including iron, copper, zinc, and nickel. If you want to detect stainless steel, you’ll need a system specifically designed to do so, since stainless steel is harder to find than other metals. You may also need a special system if you process liquid products, such as juice, milk, or soup.
- X-ray inspection systems: As thorough as metal detectors are, they can’t find everything. To detect non-metal contaminants, you’ll need an x-ray system. Such a system can locate bones, glass, rocks, ceramics, and more. As products pass through the system, operators will see a real-time scan of the x-ray’s findings. Some systems will automatically reject products if they detect contaminants.
- Checkweighers: Checkweighers, as the name implies, check a product’s weight as it passes through the line. A checkweigher will help you comply with weight regulations and ensure that the right amount of ingredients makes it into every product. This means you’ll spend less money on wasted ingredients.
- Vision inspection systems: These systems are designed to detect packaging defects, such as torn labels, cracked jars, and crushed boxes. Some of these defects merely look unsightly, while others could injure consumers. With a vision inspection system, you can ensure that only perfect products end up on shelves.
The Many Perks of Inline Detection Systems
Now that you’ve seen how to maximize efficiency with inline food inspection systems, you’re probably wondering about the benefits of installing this equipment in your line. One big benefit is that these systems provide real-time analysis and results. They can automatically route rejected products to a separate area, sparing your employees from the need to do so by hand. This greatly reduces downtime and the need for reworking defective products.
Additionally, detecting contaminants early in the production process helps you avoid wasting time and resources on defective products. For example, suppose that your business produces cereal. Wouldn’t you want to know that the cornflake or nut ratio was off before the cereal progressed to the packaging stage? A food inspection system can tell you that and more.
Installing an inline detection system can also keep your business compliant with weight regulations for food products. Violating these regulations can carry heavy fines. Detection systems help your business avoid fines with consistent quality control and automated documentation.
Lastly, modern inline detection systems are surprisingly energy efficient. If you’ve had your old detection systems for many years, you could enjoy big energy savings by switching to newer models.
Why a Food Inspection System Is a Must for Your Production Line
Still not sold on getting an inspection system? Here’s why your business can’t go without one.
Avoiding Costly Recalls and Lawsuits
If you’ve experienced sticker shock after checking out the price of advanced inspection systems, you might wonder whether your business can afford such equipment. The real question is, can you afford not to have a detection system?
Without the right setup, debris like metal, glass, and bones could end up in your products. You may have to recall tens of thousands of pounds of products like a famous chicken producer did when it discovered the possibility of metal in its nuggets. The producer was forced to pull more than 167,000 pounds of frozen chicken off store shelves.
Additionally, allowing contaminants into your products sets you up for an expensive lawsuit. A consumer who injures themselves by swallowing glass in a product, for instance, would sue for their damages, and rightly so. Quite a few businesses have been forced to shut down over food safety compliance issues. With a food inspection system, your business doesn’t have to join them.
And, of course, there’s your reputation to consider. Consumers who learn about product recalls from your brand will always wonder, “Is this product safe to eat? Can I trust it?” It can take years to recover from a ruined reputation, and some businesses never do.
Minimizing Product Giveaway
You’re running a business, not a charity that gives things out for free. But if you don’t have a food inspection system, your company could be doing exactly that.
Without a checkweigher, for instance, your product weights could be off by 5% or far more. Filling packages with 0.3 extra ounces of food doesn’t sound like much, but if you process thousands of items daily, the wastage quickly adds up. Consumers will be happy, but your bank account won’t be.
A checkweigher also helps you avoid weight shortages. When customers buy a 32-ounce product, they expect it to contain that amount. If the box is a few ounces short, you may lose that customer for good.
Improving Labor Efficiency
Hiring workers to inspect, weigh, and sort products isn’t cheap. Even if your business has a small staff, you could be spending hundreds of thousands annually to retain those workers. On top of that, you may need to hire more staff to handle tasks like monitoring and maintaining your equipment.
Although advanced x-ray and vision systems can be pricey, they quickly pay for themselves in labor savings. Instead of having multiple employees to manage your line, you could get by with just one or two. And instead of wasting time monitoring equipment, the other employees are free to focus on more complex tasks. For instance, you could train workers on how to analyze inspection system data or monitor x-ray screens.
Protecting Your Equipment
Your processing line equipment cost your business a pretty penny, and you don’t plan to replace it anytime soon, if ever. However, without inspection systems, you may need to replace your machinery sooner than you’d hoped.
Processing equipment is under constant strain, leading to inevitable wear and tear. Belts from precision conveyors can become loose, and parts may fall off and get stuck in the machinery. Should that happen, you’ll have to eat the cost of repairs or a replacement. A single repair, if your equipment isn’t under warranty, may cost well over $1,000.
Inspection systems spare you from such an expense by alerting you when something is wrong with the machinery. In turn, you’ll get more years of life out of your equipment and spend less on costly repairs.
Integrating and Managing Data From Your Inspection Systems
Modern food inspection systems don’t work in a vacuum. Thanks to networking features, you can easily integrate each system into your line and connect them so that they “speak” to each other. For example, suppose a checkweigher detects too much weight in a product. It can route the product to the x-ray system to determine if there’s something in the product that shouldn’t be there, like a rock or chunk of glass.
Additionally, today’s food inspection systems come with advanced data analytics features. Data analytics lets you keep tabs on your lines and the system’s performance. With this data, you can pinpoint inefficiencies and areas that could use improvement. You may even discover ways to boost production speed, enabling you to increase your business’s profits.
As an added perk, you don’t need to visit each system when you want to look at the data. Most systems will send data to a centralized dashboard you can view on your phone or computer. This allows you to keep an eye on your systems, whether you’re at work or home.
TDI Packsys Offers Everything You Need for Operational Efficiency
If you’re sold on the benefits of food inspection systems, browse our selection of equipment today. TDI Packsys is your one-stop shop for vision inspection systems, x-ray equipment, color sorters, checkweighers, and more.
We offer a variety of systems, from basic models designed for moderate throughput to advanced systems capable of handling very heavy throughput. No matter your business needs, we carry the right inspection system for you.
TDI Packsys also offers calibration and comprehensive training to help you and your employees hit the ground running with your new system. Additionally, we provide annual testing to help keep expensive repairs to a minimum.
Contact us at (877) 834-6750 to learn more about how to maximize efficiency with inline food inspection systems.
