If you've done your due diligence on the latest food and beverage quality control equipment, such as checkweighers, metal detectors or x-ray machines, and you've concluded that best in class means cherry-picking machines from different brands, then read on. 

The combined inspection system you are considering might not be with the same developer and manufacturer, but that doesn’t mean you should end your search there. There are solutions that can bridge disparate systems and connect devices on the packaging line to minimise digital islands and maintain efficiency.

Product profiles often change to reflect weight changes caused by shrinkflation or customer complaints. The risk of debris and foreign objects also becomes more relevant as food processing and packaging lines move to higher speeds. These set changes and your own business case requirements for different equipment choices need to be visible and connected on the factory floor, to maintain control and optimise efficiency.

With system applications such as AutoCoding and Inspection Reporting, you can control what's happening on the packaging line, but also access data reporting and visualisation tools. These reports can help you identify opportunities for efficiency and continuous improvement by analysing exportable data sources for data-driven insights.

Introduction of AutoCoding

The software-based AutoCoding system connects agnostically to equipment on the packaging line. JBT AutoCoding Systems' flagship product, AutoCoding, has been adopted by many food and beverage manufacturers worldwide. JBT AutoCoding Systems has helped them maintain control by eliminating errors on the packaging line, eliminating date coding risk and improving set-up times. However, AutoCoding can be further enhanced with software modules such as Inspection Reporting. Inspection Reporting focuses specifically on inspection equipment and has built-in tools for data reporting and visualisation. 

Inspection reporting

Live views

JBT AutoCoding Systems inspection reporting is designed with safety and quality integrity in mind. Live dashboards can be viewed to review weight, metal detection or foreign object checks, highlighting dynamic data such as number of rejects, average weight, giveaway percentages and pack rate. With data like this, you can gain greater confidence and control to minimise give-away and reduce physical contaminants in your product by acting immediately when your parameters start to drop.  The clear graphical display of line events and drill-down capabilities allow you to investigate which areas may be causing problems.

Report views

As a web-based tool, inspection reports can be viewed from remote devices. Online checks can be performed to see if any devices are offline due to accidental shutdown. Report summaries can be generated for end-of-batch reporting to support your compliance and audit needs. Inspection Reporting reports, including batch data and pack weights, can be reviewed and exported as a csv data spreadsheet for further analysis and insight.

Autocoding with Inspection Reporting  

The packaging line can be designed to stop or reject if foreign objects, metal or incorrect weight are detected in a product, as Inspection Reporting is integrated with AutoCoding. Users of the system will also benefit from contextual information about the product, in order to identify problem areas in context. For example, the frequency of line stops or rejects can be linked to a particular shift, packaging location or time of day.

With AutoCoding built into the system, recipe deployment is automatic and set according to product parameters. An incorrect product weight can never be applied once the order has been confirmed at the start of each production run on the AutoCoding system. This is due to the link with the products in the AutoCoding database and the confirmation of the product job by the operator, which minimises the risk of using the old parameters from the previous job.  

JBT AutoCoding Systems partner

If a LOMA System checkweigher, metal detector, x-ray inspection or combination system is already high on your equipment wish list, consider what LOMA Tracs has to offer. JBT AutoCoding Systems has worked with LOMA to develop their data reporting and analysis software. LOMA Tracs is a graphical reporting and analysis software already used by many manufacturers in the food and packaging industries.

Summary

If your choice of combined inspection equipment doesn't consist of a single brand solution, there are ways to avoid digital islands. AutoCoding, with its inspection reporting module, is one option to consider to reduce disparate systems and increase connectivity. AutoCoding system allows you to focus on producing quality products. It’s able to do this by identifying where the problems are and where there are opportunities for improvement in the wake of change, by error-proofing the line and providing packaging insight through its additional software modules.  

About JBT | AutoCoding Systems

We help food and drink manufacturers avoid product recalls and re-work by providing workflow software solutions for packaging verification and date code control, enabling them to eliminate errors, reduce risk and improve set-up times for product labelling and packaging.

www.autocodingsystems.com

Request a demo to see how our software works.