Breaking new ground in inline quality control

(firmenpresse) - Anuga FoodTec: Bizerba presents the GLM-Imaxx and the Vision System

Balingen, 14th February 2012 – The new Europe-wide food labelling directive (EU no. 1169/2011) means manufacturers are having to juggle ever-increasing amounts of data. Increasingly high-performance devices and new communication channels are required so that this doesn't cause a drop in manufacturing output. At Anuga FoodTec, Bizerba will be presenting a system that weighs and labels products, prints and applies the QR code with packaging-variable data and checks the optical quality of the finished products with an image processor - all completely automatically (hall 10.1, stand 070).


Stress on the increase as of 2014? Europe-wide food labelling directive threatens to increase data traffic for food manufacturers

The new Europe-wide compulsory labelling requirements come into force in 2014. This will cause an increase in data traffic for food manufacturers: they will have to maintain additional product information – including exact information on possible allergens and the percentage of fat, carbohydrates, sugar, protein and salt – in their databases and print it on their labels in table form. In addition, they will have to identify the origin of pork, poultry, mutton and lamb and goat meat. Until now, this has only been obligatory for beef.


Bizerba: increasing the performance of labelling systems

So that throughput remains stable even in the face of this increasing volume of data, companies need labelling machines with high-performance hardware and software, explains Dieter Conzelmann, Director of Industry Solutions at Bizerba. "We have prepared the GLM-Imaxx for these future challenges – with a stronger CPU, a faster graphics processor and a new communication architecture that performs excellently, even when dealing with large amounts of data, as well as consistent integration of QR codes in all printing systems.” This will allow manufacturers to be prepared today for the challenges of tomorrow, he explains. You can also connect your labeller to your data processing system via the interface WS-FOOD, a new standard for recording operating data: simply plug and play.

C-Wrap labelling makes it possible to display all content on just one label that wraps around the product on three sides, forming a "C" shape. Conzelmann: "In order to meet the growing market demand, we have developed an applicator for the GLM-Imaxx that supports vertical, downward-facing application of labels. The label hangs through an opening in the conveyor belt so that it is attached to the packaging as the product passes through." A key advantage for those that are transferring to C-Wrap from the single or two-side labelling that has been customary until now is that the labelling station can be converted quickly and easily, meaning that no additional space is required in the production area.


The consumer can see the date, ingredients and price at a glance. The label is ideal for the convenience sector in particular: ready meals or salads can be packaged in a nice shape, with the label being used to stabilise it and seal it securely.


Product transparency and retraceability: a system solution for dynamic QR coding

In reaction to numerous food scandals in the past, consumers are becoming more responsible and are expecting increasingly exact details on who has produced their products and where, when and under which conditions their products have been produced. Not all of this information can be included in the packaging: this is where the QR code comes into play. It facilitates completely transparent retraceability via a mobile phone. The customer scans it with their smartphone, rapidly bringing up an internet page with exact details on origin and content.

Bizerba has developed a system solution that allows all food manufacturers to create QR codes directly on the labelling line and prepare the data for the internet. Using platforms such as mynetfair or fTRACE, the system passes origin and production data onto external data providers that edit the information for use by consumers: e.g. the rearing location is shown on a Google map. The internet address of the provider can be saved as a statistical element in the labeller. Thus, during the continuous labelling process, only the dynamic elements – batch number, time and date – change. Conzelmann: "Not all competitors offer this type of coding along with a sophisticated background IT infrastructure. In practice, it proves particularly flexible, fast and fail-safe."


A camera-supported inspection system to ensure product safety

The Bizerba Vision System (BVS) is a further piece of the puzzle for companies automating their production. It is connected in series to the GLM-Imaxx and fulfils a large variety of inspection tasks: using cameras, it automatically checks whether the barcode, QR code, company logo and best before date (BBD) have been applied and compares text with reference information from the database. If these details are non-conforming, a pusher removes the product. Conzelmann explains that this is particularly important in order to protect allergy sufferers: "When working with products that are the same apart from just one characteristic – for example, the type of marinade – employees can mix up the labels during continuous production. Such a mistake can have serious consequences for an allergy sufferer."

And that's not all the BVS can do: it checks the label colours and seal seams and classifies products into various quality levels, making calculations on the basis of colours, contrasts and contours and the proportion of muscle mass, fat and bones. This technology has even been patented by Bizerba. The BVS is already being used successfully in the USA: by Cargill, Smithfield and fresh and easy to name but a few. Introduction into Europe is powering ahead at full steam. The GLM-Imaxx and the BVS are perfectly suited to one another: if the user changes the item on the GLM-Imaxx, the BVS automatically kicks in with its motor-operated height adjuster.


About Bizerba

Since 1866, Bizerba has been leading technological progress in weighing, labeling, information and food service systems. We are creating the future. Bizerba offers all its solutions from a single source: hardware and software, consulting, financing and services. We are active around the globe and present wherever you need us.

As market and technology leaders, we provide state-of-the-art, comprehensive solutions. Retail scales with multimedia databases, cash-point solutions and checkout scales, materials and store management systems, slicing and meat processing machines, labels and consumables, software-supported control scales, foreign body detectors, labeling systems as well as industry software for data flow – from goods receiving through to shipping. Bizerba’s consistently high quality is the result of systematic Global Quality Management. We are always a step ahead and with clear targets in the foreground, so that our customers can capitalize on the best available solutions today. Bizerba quality stands for technological leadership.

Bizerba is represented in over 120 countries around the world – with 41 partnership holdings in 23 countries and 54 representative offices. Company headquarters are located in Balingen, Germany, where we employ a staff of close to 3,000. Further production facilities are located in Messkirch and Bochum (Germany), Vienna (Austria), Pfäffikon (Switzerland), Milan (Italy), Shanghai (China), Forest Hill (USA) and San Luis Potosi (Mexico).

Themen in dieser Pressemitteilung:


Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Leseranfragen:
PresseKontakt / Agentur:
Bereitgestellt von Benutzer: Constancia Consulting
Datum: 14.02.2012 - 07:12 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 1082580
Anzahl Zeichen: 0

contact information:
Contact person: Constancia Consulting
Town:

Balingen

Phone: 0228 620 43 84

Kategorie:

Food and Beverage

Anmerkungen:


Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 435 mal aufgerufen.


Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"Breaking new ground in inline quality control
"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von

Bizerba GmbH & Co. KG (Nachricht senden)

Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).

Alle Meldungen von Bizerba GmbH & Co. KG