Industrial metal detectors can bring important benefits to the production line for food, non-food, and pharmaceutical applications. They allow manufacturers to fulfil their regulatory requirements by providing a fully tested and reliable product inspection programme.
They also increase consumer safety and quality assurance (QA) by ensuring manufacturers are producing the high quality and safe products.
Having a stable, reliable, and highly sensitive metal detector within a production line is important. However, having an integrated conveyorised metal detection system provides far greater benefits.
Supplementing that system with electronic data collection software takes it one step further to ensure manufacturers have a fully integrated process solution that enhances compliance and increases production efficiency.
Mettler-Toledo Safeline has developed a series of conveyors that can be seamlessly integrated into a production line to improve the effectiveness of a manufacturer’s metal detection programme. Each system comes with a number of key features:
- Tailored solutions for specific applications
Each system is tailored to suit specific production needs, from light to heavy duty food to non-food applications, and can be integrated with Safeline’s extensive range of metal detectors, which have a longstanding reputation for reliability and stability.
Manufacturers can choose from compact solutions for small spaces with the Series 30 conveyor, right through to the Series 200 conveyor, which is optimised for bulk product inspection. The newest addition to the portfolio is the Series 90, a wide retracting band system designed specifically for inspecting light to medium weight, multi-lane, or randomly presented bakery and confectionery products and packs. A design service is also available to develop bespoke solutions tailored to more demanding applications.
- Enhanced features to increase productivity
Safeline’s metal detector systems have a number of enhanced features to provide flexible solutions suited to the application on the production line. Each system uses a reject device from a wide range of available options, and solutions start with simple ‘stop-on-detection’ systems through to fully-automated detect-and-reject systems, including pushers and air blast devices for light to medium-weight products, through to overhead sweep and diverter arms for heavier products.
To improve security and ensure contaminated products are effectively removed from the production line, failsafe system options and other due diligence features are available to make sure the metal detectors continue to operate reliably and efficiently. A choice of finishes and sealing standards are also available to suit the working environment.
- Robust design and safe operation
To protect operators during production and support safe maintenance practices, attention is paid to every detail of the conveyorised system design. These include guards manufactured from clear, shatter-proof material without sharp edges, a safety valve fitted as standard on all pneumatics, and guarded in-feed and out-feed rollers, which remove the risk of finger traps.
Safeline’s conveyor systems are designed to meet worker health and safety standards including the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. They are built to robust construction standards, and are manufactured to the European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group (EHEDG) principles. Systems can be supplied with a detailed risk assessment to ensure manufacturers fully comply with these safety standards.
- Electronic data collection
All Safeline metal detection systems are compatible with Mettler-Toledo’s ProdX data management software, making processes more streamlined, more accessible, and more efficient. Innovative ProdX software automatically collects critical inspection process data in one convenient location, significantly reducing the need to interact directly with critical control points (CCP).
ProdX also facilitates faster set-up between production batches and is able to convey advance warnings generated by product inspection devices of adverse trends that may lead to downtime and threaten the efficiency of the production line.
A conveyorised metal detection system is much more than a modified transport conveyor. The design of both the conveyor and the auto-reject device will have a major impact on the effectiveness of a production line. Purchasing an integrated metal detection solution from just one supplier ensures equipment performance is maximised. With Mettler-Toledo’s global service team delivering local support, manufacturers can optimise their product inspection equipment over its lifetime to maximise the return on investment.
Conveyorised metal detection systems provide flexible, integrated handling solutions capable of operating in almost any working environment. Whether the product is wet, dry, chilled, frozen, loose, or packed, an integrated metal detection conveyor system allows manufacturers to resolve any metal contamination related inspection challenge.
