Modular inspection solutions for food, non-food and pharma
Mettler-Toledo showed several new product inspection technologies at Ipack-Ima and Pharmintech in Milan. We first visited Roberto Scanu at the Mettler-Toledo stand at Ipack-Ima where we received an overview of the company’s activities and its several inspection technologies which are quite versatile. Scanu also explained that Mettler-Toledo has several other impressive activities such as being a leading supplier of laboratory instruments. He added, “In addition to our versatile inspection technologies, the company’s inspection and reporting software is capable of real-time data analysis making the inspection solutions IoT or Industry 4.0 ready.”
The four inspection technologies used by Mettler-Toledo for an extremely wide range of applications are X-Ray which detects a wide range of foreign body contaminants, metal detection, which detects unwanted ferrous and non-ferrous metals, check-weighing for precision weighing, and vision systems for label inspection and more.
For inspection to work in industrial manufacturing environments (for instance food and pharma), it has to be turned into a process where products move on conveyors and in which defects (or unwanted artifacts) are detected and rejected using a suitable reject system.
At Ipack-Ima we saw these technology modules demonstrated in several machines where the focus was to integrate these into smart solutions for manufacturers and packers in the food and non-food processing and packaging sectors. As we saw at both Ipack-Ima and the Mettler-Toledo stand in Pharmintech, all the product inspection solutions are on stainless steel cylindrical rails. These solutions can inspect a wide range of applications.
Ipack-Ima witnessed the first showing of the M34R metal detection system, designed specifically for small and medium-sized products. The new smart SENSE software from Mettler-Toledo provides high sensitivity to metal contaminants with minimal false rejects and is specifically designed for ‘wet’ and challenging applications.
Scanu also showed us the Mettler-Toledo Throat 200 Metal Detector with Automatic Test System (ATS) used for inspecting free-falling products in vertical form fill and seal machines. This system uses multiple ultra-high tuned frequencies with enhanced noise and vibration immunity, helping to maximize sensitivity and detection performance. The ATS undertakes several optimized metal detection tests (detecting ferrous, non-ferrous, stainless steel, and aluminium).
At the Mettler-Toledo stand at Pharmintech, we learned that in the pharma industry, detection sensitivity is important. Furthermore, pharmaceutical products need to be tracked and traced and manufacturers need to have processes in place to avoid false rejects to reduce product waste. This was demonstrated to us at the stand with a Mettler-Toledo checkweigher.
The X34C x-ray inspection system was also showcased at Pharmintech. The system is compact at just 700mm in length and includes an integrated reject system. It can operate at 120 meters a minute, with its 0.4mm diode detector and 100W Optimum Power Generator. The X34C is able to optimize the focal distance which maximizes the probability of detecting small contaminants and helps to reduce the false reject rate.
The system delivers a unique x-ray solution to the market by offering a cost-effective inspection solution for individual pharmaceutical packs, immediately after flow-wrapping or pack sealing. “We are expecting that pharma manufacturers who are typically hard-pushed to fit new equipment into existing lines will love the small footprint of the X34C,” says Mike Pipe, head of Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection Global Sales & Product Management.
The Covid-19 pandemic led to the country-wide lockdown on 25 March 2020. It will be two years tomorrow as I write this. What have we learned in this time? Maybe the meaning of resilience since small companies like us have had to rely on our resources and the forbearance of our employees as we have struggled to produce our trade platforms.
The print and packaging industries have been fortunate, although the commercial printing industry is still to recover. We have learned more about the digital transformation that affects commercial printing and packaging. Ultimately digital will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future.
Web analytics show that we now have readership in North America and Europe amongst the 90 countries where our five platforms reach. Our traffic which more than doubled in 2020, has at times gone up by another 50% in 2021. And advertising which had fallen to pieces in 2020 and 2021, has started its return since January 2022.
As the economy approaches real growth with unevenness and shortages a given, we are looking forward to the PrintPack India exhibition in Greater Noida. We are again appointed to produce the Show Daily on all five days of the show from 26 to 30 May 2022.
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