Metal detection and dynamic weighing Food of packed … · Metal detection and dynamic weighing ......
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12 METTLER TOLEDO IndMagazine 2/2005 On site Food Metal detection and dynamic weighing of packed olives. Previously Agro Sevilla, Seville, Spain, had thought it to be a ‘mission impossible’ to automate its quality checking at high speed. However, with METTLER TOLEDO equip- ment, capable of checkweighing up to 500 glass jars of olives per minute, the optimum throughput has been achieved. Agro Sevilla is the world’s largest pro- ducer, packer and exporter of olives and a leading exporter of olive oil from Spain. Agro Sevilla is made up of nine olive and seven olive oil cooperatives and 5,500 growers. The Roda de Andalucía plant, Seville, is dedicated to the processing and packag- ing of olives for export. It has a packing capacity of 60,000 tonnes per year and a workforce of 350 employees. Agro Sevilla exports to an increasing number of countries and needs to be able to fulfil the individual requirements and specifications for each customer. Therefore, the company started making modifications and extensions to its manufacturing plant. When Agro Sevilla receives the order from the client it immediately begins processing and aims to fulfil within one month to six weeks. Each order is dif- ferent, given that every country has its own container format, packaging and labelling. The olives are packed in either cans or glass jars and in many different sizes. A challenge was posed when the compa- ny’s clients requested 5-oz cylindrical and conical glass jars. These styles of packaging are very narrow and unstable, previously proving difficult to check- weigh quickly. In addition, the increase in exports made it necessary to weigh at great speed without the jars falling over. Agro Sevilla, which already uses various GARVENS checkweighers on its produc- tion lines, contacted METTLER TOLEDO for help in solving this problem. The dif- ficulty lay in separating the jars, passing them through the metal detector, weigh- ing and bringing them back together again without breakages. A single bro- ken jar means rejecting the entire batch of olives due to the possibilty of broken glass contaminating the jars. The solution provided by METTLER TOLEDO was to integrate the high-speed S3 Shark checkweigher in combination with a highly sensitive Safeline Signa- ture IImetal detector. This made it one of the first packing lines able to work using very narrow glass bottles at a production speed of 500 jars per minute. One of the most critical points in the process is feeding the jars towards the metal detector, METTLER TOLEDO over- came this by installing an endless screw conveyor that separates the jars by 5cm. Jars that do not achieve the minimum weight are rejected from the production line using a tailor-made solution. Using “fingers” the rejected jars are gently pushed towards a hinged conveyor belt, running parallel and in the opposite direction to the main conveyor, at the end of this they are filled with more olives and go back onto the packing line to complete the cycle. Both Carlos Mateos, Industrial Manager, and Enrique Pintos, Deputy Plant Man- ager, are very pleased with the METTLER TOLEDO solution and the support pro- vided by the technical department.
Transcript of Metal detection and dynamic weighing Food of packed … · Metal detection and dynamic weighing ......
12 METTLER TOLEDO IndMagazine 2/2005
On siteFo
od
Metal detection and dynamic weighing of packed olives.
Previously Agro Sevilla, Seville, Spain, had thought it to be a ‘mission impossible’ toautomate its quality checking at high speed. However, with METTLER TOLEDO equip-ment, capable of checkweighing up to 500 glass jars of olives per minute, the optimumthroughput has been achieved.
Agro Sevilla is the world’s largest pro-ducer, packer and exporter of olives anda leading exporter of olive oil fromSpain. Agro Sevilla is made up of nineolive and seven olive oil cooperativesand 5,500 growers.
The Roda de Andalucía plant, Seville, isdedicated to the processing and packag-ing of olives for export. It has a packingcapacity of 60,000 tonnes per year and aworkforce of 350 employees.
Agro Sevilla exports to an increasingnumber of countries and needs to beable to fulfil the individual requirementsand specifications for each customer.Therefore, the company started makingmodifications and extensions to itsmanufacturing plant.
When Agro Sevilla receives the orderfrom the client it immediately beginsprocessing and aims to fulfil within onemonth to six weeks. Each order is dif-ferent, given that every country has itsown container format, packaging andlabelling.
The olives are packed in either cans orglass jars and in many different sizes. Achallenge was posed when the compa-ny’s clients requested 5-oz cylindricaland conical glass jars. These styles ofpackaging are very narrow and unstable,previously proving difficult to check-weigh quickly. In addition, the increasein exports made it necessary to weigh atgreat speed without the jars falling over.
Agro Sevilla, which already uses variousGARVENS checkweighers on its produc-tion lines, contacted METTLER TOLEDOfor help in solving this problem. The dif-ficulty lay in separating the jars, passingthem through the metal detector, weigh-ing and bringing them back togetheragain without breakages. A single bro-ken jar means rejecting the entire batchof olives due to the possibilty of brokenglass contaminating the jars.
The solution provided by METTLERTOLEDO was to integrate the high-speedS3 Shark checkweigher in combinationwith a highly sensitive Safeline Signa-ture IImetal detector. This made it one ofthe first packing lines able to work usingvery narrow glass bottles at a productionspeed of 500 jars per minute.
One of the most critical points in theprocess is feeding the jars towards themetal detector, METTLER TOLEDO over-came this by installing an endless screwconveyor that separates the jars by 5cm.Jars that do not achieve the minimumweight are rejected from the productionline using a tailor-made solution. Using“fingers” the rejected jars are gentlypushed towards a hinged conveyor belt,running parallel and in the oppositedirection to the main conveyor, at theend of this they are filled with moreolives and go back onto the packing lineto complete the cycle.
Both Carlos Mateos, Industrial Manager,and Enrique Pintos, Deputy Plant Man-ager, are very pleased with the METTLERTOLEDO solution and the support pro-vided by the technical department.
13METTLER TOLEDO IndMagazine 2/2005
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Carlos Mateos explained that when itcame to deciding on what equipmentthey were going to buy, there wasabsolutely no hesitation: they neededsomething that would operate optimally,given the complexity of their instal-lations, and there was no doubt thatMETTLER TOLEDO was the best choiceand offers the maximum assurance.
4www.agrosevilla.com4www.mt.com/themag
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Depending on your needs Excellence precision balances provide full com-pliance to quality management systems including password protection,GxP compliance, production certificate and applications from simpleweighing, formulation, density, dynamic weighing statistics and piececounting.
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4www.mt.com/xp-precision4www.mt.com/xs-precision4www.mt.com/themag
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