A variety of meat and poultry weighing, packing, grading and quality control solutions will be demonstrated by Ishida Europe at IFFA 2013, including the launches of a new traysealer, a new grader and enhanced weigh batcher alongside the latest innovations in X-ray and checkweigher technologies.
The new traysealer is the semi-automatic QX-300-FLEX, which is ideal for growing businesses or new product development work. Offering the same performance and pack appearance as its larger QX Flex family members, the QX-300 combines high sealing pressure with precise control of the sealing time and temperature to deliver the highest seal integrity for optimum shelf-life and perfect pack presentation.
Ishida’s comprehensive tray sealer range now comprises a choice of six models, from the QX-300 through the compact QX-775 to the state-of-the-art two-lane QX-1100-SDL (Split Dual Lane) which has the capability to operate each lane independently at different speeds, enabling companies to run two separate tray sizes, pack weights or products at the same time in one machine footprint.
All Ishida tray sealers offer a high return on floor space through compact designs and high output capability. They feature durable stainless-steel construction with easy access for cleaning and maintenance, combined with high-quality components to ensure excellent reliability and machine availability. They have also been designed for quick and easy changeovers. Automatic models incorporate intelligent control including auto-set features along with complete servo-driven motion for accurate and consistent tray handling at high speeds in order to maximise product throughput.
The enhanced Ishida weigh batcher system allows the accurate weighing of fresh meat and poultry to be combined with manual manipulation in order to optimise the products’ arrangement and presentation in a tray. The latest enhanced version features a new space-saving design incorporating a unique rotary batcher, combined with Ishida’s proven Screwfeeder mulithead weighing technology that ensures a consistent feed of meat products to the weigh hoppers.
The new Ishida grader meanwhile offers a flexible system incorporating the company’s proven DACS-G checkweigher to help grade meat products by weight, number, or minimum weight requirements.
Ishida will also demonstrate its DACS-G checkweigher, which is capable of exceptional speeds while maintaining high accuracy, and, at the touch of a button, can switch between two weighing ranges, allowing manufacturers to handle a larger weight range on one machine.
The DACS-G will be shown alongside Ishida’s just-introduced enhanced IDCS II (Ishida Data Capture System) that records and analyses data from every pack that goes across an Ishida checkweigher. IDCS II helps to improve overall equipment efficiency (OEE), monitor packing line performance, enhance the profitability of production lines and generally enable meat processors and packers to manage their operations more efficiently. Ishida says that IDCS II can typically pay for itself with only a few weeks of use.
Ishida’s IX-GA range of X-ray inspection systems can detect a variety of contaminants including metal, glass, bones, shells, stones, hard rubber and plastic. The machines incorporate unique self-learning genetic algorithm (GA) technology, which offers maximum detection sensitivity and reliability, with the most sophisticated models able to spot impurities down to 0.3mm in size. This means IX-GA models can also be used for other quality control operations such as product grading by length, presence of clips, voids in product, product deformation, missing or damaged pieces, and fill-level control.
