Food & beveraGe


confirms david Jahn, brillopak’s managing director. “not only that, but it has also improved its performance, as the lighter, smaller end- effectors result in a faster pick speed while retaining presentation.”


SolVing labouR challengeS However, among the numerous challenges facing food producers, one stands out against the rest: labour. the nFu reports an estimated 500,000 vacancies in the food and drink sector resulting in crops being left to rot in the fields, abattoirs operating shorter weeks and meat and poultry processing sites cutting back production . automation has long been heralded as part of the solution but until now, some manufacturers have been reluctant to invest in robotics. For Stuart coulton of omron, this current


crisis could be a tipping point: “Food manufacturing is in the grip of a severe labour shortage. by replacing repetitive, mundane tasks such as picking and placing, or palletising, with robots, companies can increase their overall efficiency and decrease production uncertainty – after all, a robot does not suffer from rSi or burnout and will never get sick. and with staffing vacancies an issue at every department across food manufacturing plants, production line employees can then be redeployed to other more business-critical areas.”


SuStainable nut Supplier SelectS FortreSS conveyor metal detector


Most snack producers opt for gravity metal detectors. With 15 Fortress mini Vertex snack inspection systems integrated with multi-head weighers in its aintree factory, Trigon Snacks is no exception. Yet, for its latest coated honey roast nut production line, the nut specialist selected a bespoke linear Stealth metal detector with an innovative retractable conveyor reject system.


supplies a wide range of nuts and snacks to the licensed trade, retailers and food service operators. marketed under its own big d and bar bite brands, as well as retailer own-labels, for its new honey roasted nuts line the company commissioned a highly sensitive horizontal metal detection concept. Stringent retailer cops specified that as ‘naked


p


nuts’ the new honey-coated range must be inspected for metal contaminants prior to own-label packaging. additionally, trigon required a supermarket spec metal detector that was sensitive enough to adapt to the fine oil and sugar tolerances. For logistical reasons, a small-footprint, wide-


head Stealth metal detector engineered to inspect the fried, dried and seasoned nuts on a conveyor before entering the chute and falling into the one- ton sacks (over 1,000 kilograms), was the most viable and accessible option. Screening 32 tons of honey roasted nuts daily,


PRoTecTion againST unPRedicTabiliTY if the last two years have taught us anything, it is to expect the unexpected. as coulton explains, businesses that incorporate robotic solutions into their arsenal will also find themselves better able to cope with a rapidly changing economic landscape: “robotics can help food and drink businesses mitigate against the extreme peaks and troughs in demand that we have witnessed in recent times. this is because, if correctly specified, robotic solutions provide a flexibility that cannot be matched with human labour. However, it is important to work with a reputable automation specialist to prevent against overspecification (meaning the solution will be energy inefficient and not cost-effective) or under-specification (which will prevent the end- user from being able to flex up to meet increased demand). a correctly-specified robotics solution will increase food producers’ agility and help to make the capacity curve more linear.”


www.aveuk.net www.fortresstechnology.co.uk www.brillopak.co.uk www.industrial.omron.co.uk


space limitations was a key driver to the design, reaffirms trigon’s lead engineer mark Grieve. “being located on a mezzanine floor, we commissioned a wide head yet highly sensitive metal detector with a specially adapted linear conveyor system measuring just 40 cm wide.”


RejecT on a RolleR Factoring in the conveying and reject system was critical to guarantee reliable operation and avoid false readings. Given the tight footprint, a customised solution was the best way to ensure that metal detector performance was not compromised. the low profile nuts combined with the


inspection speed meant that a kicker would be incompatible. it is also virtually impossible to isolate and divert contaminated products with naked products. With insufficient space to accommodate a flap style reject, Fortress instead engineered a clever and efficient retracting band conveyor and reject mechanism. rather than a typical tongue and groove


conveyor, the rollers on trigon’s moveable easy- clean, food-grade belt are rounded. the metal detector which sits at the front of the conveyor calculates precisely how long the contaminated nuts will take to reach the end of the conveyor band, communicating via the metal detector control


rocessing 7,000 tons of nuts annually from its british retail consortium a-grade and rSpo certified facility, trigon Snacks


system. the belt then smoothly retracts back on a sliding rail rolling the rejected nuts into the dedicated bin located beneath the conveyor, resuming its inspection position in just seconds. to-date, trigon reports zero false rejects on the


honey roasted nut line, upholding the company’s longstanding sustainable, ethical and traceable principles. despite admitting he was slightly apprehensive by the compact dimensions of the entire system, Grieve corroborates that it has already proved itself to be a reliable and easy to use machine. Hourly manual tests are the only reported source


of daily waste. the lead engineer estimates this to be less than 0.05 percent of the total production, well below the food manufacturing average which on some lines can reach double figures. From a sensitivity perspective, Fortress sales


manager Jaison anand validates that the metal detector is smashing expectations. capable of detecting ferrous and non-ferrous particles as small as 1.0mm and stainless steel particles down to 1.5mm, anand attributes this level of sensitivity to the aperture dimensions. He explains: “aperture size is critical to optimal operation. if aligned to the size of the product being inspected it delivers the best performance. that’s why we installed a wide yet low profile metal detector head on the trigon honey nut line.” a longstanding advocate of Fortress equipment,


trigon Snacks, which last year celebrated it’s half century milestone, was in fact one of the food safety specialist’s first uK snack customers. managing director phil brown, a sales manager


at the time, recollects the moment trigon became the springboard for the development of Fortress technology’s mini vertex metal detector that’s now adopted widely by snack manufacturers across the globe. “i’d showcased a standard sized gravity metal detector, but they needed something much more compact, with ultra slim case dimensions to slot between the volumetric filler and bagging machine. We created something very bespoke, taking a ‘try it and see if you like it’ approach. as we fully anticipated, they did!” Several decades on and 15 of these very vertex


metal detectors continue to comply with Haccp regulations, detecting the tiniest metal particles and protecting the trigon brands.


Fortress Technology www.fortresstechnology.co.uk


Factory&HandlinGSolutionS | december/January 2022 27


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