Ishida sets its sights on PPMA event with new confectionery weighing and x-ray systems
Equipment manufacturer Ishida is set to showcase several of its key lines of weighing and x-ray inspection systems for confectionery and bakery sectors at this year’s PPMA event in Birmingham, UK, next month, reports Neill Barston.
As the business explained, it will be highlighting the benefits of automated solutions that have proved significant amid the coronavirus pandemic, and the business said it will continue to offer support on technology integration in fast-moving and increasingly competitive markets.
Among its latest systems to be unveiled at PPMA between 28-30 September at the NEC, are the 28 head CCW-RV multihead weigher (below) has been specifically designed for sugared confectionery; the IX-GN X-ray provides a versatile mid-range quality control and inspection solution; and the DACS-G-F015 checkweigher has been designed to meet private label manufacturing requirements.
Furthermore, in line with the ongoing move to smart factories, the machines can reportedly also be part of a fully integrated and centrally controlled packing line, designed and installed by Ishida and supported by its advanced Sentinel monitoring software. The Ishida Sentinel Reporting Pack, which is included on all Ishida models free of charge for life, provides instant visibility of live machine performance from anywhere in the world.
As previously reported by Confectionery Production, the Japanese-founded business, which has its European headquarters in Birmingham, UK, has maintained a strong programme of support for its customers within the region, and throughout the world.
The Ishida CCW-RV-228WB multihead weigher incorporates custom-designed parts which can deal with the particular challenges of sticky sugar-coated confectionery to deliver smooth and consistent movement of the product for fast and accurate weighing. Precision Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) ensures that product is fed to the hopper in a controlled manner to optimise weight combinations, while Ishida’s patented high-speed filtering and Anti-Floor Vibration (AFV) ensure optimum efficiency and close to zero giveaway. The weigher offers up to 400 weighments per minute.
It also offers a strong focus on foreign body detection and quality control for a wide range of packaged and unpackaged food products is provided by Ishida’s IX-GN-4044 X-ray inspection system, offering maximum consumer reassurance and brand protection. The IX-GN can reliably detect contaminants including steel, aluminium, tin, glass, stones, dense rubber and plastic, bones and shells for unrivalled food safety. In addition, Ishida’s advanced Genetic Algorithm (GA) technology enables operators to optimise the system for greater sensitivity to specific foreign bodies. The machine can also carry out several other quality control functions such as counting components, weight estimation, missing, broken or deformed items, and product voids.
In the checkweigher range, the DACS-F015 Advanced-Line model uses Ishida’s Force Restoration weight cell to deliver precision weighing accuracy for high-speed production lines. Manufactured in the UK, this model is a full combination system which includes metal detection and reject devices, including mechanical, electrical and software features that surpass the inspection and failsafe assurance requirements of private label goods for UK retailers.
The machine on display also features Ishida’s proven IDCS (Ishida Data Capture System), a powerful software that captures and manages data from every pack that passes over the checkweigher. This provides in-depth real time performance monitoring that helps to identify opportunities for performance improvement and enhancement throughout the line to deliver increased Overall Equipment Effectives (OEE).
In addition, both the IX-GN and DACS-G-F incorporate Ishida’s Retailer Reject Confirmation (RRC) software that checks and confirms that any out-of-specification product or pack has been successfully removed from the production and packing line, to meet individual UK retailer quality standards and codes of practice.
“We are delighted to be back at the PPMA Show and the NEC after such a long-enforced absence,” commented Ryan Jones of Ishida Europe. “As a business, we have continued to work successfully throughout the pandemic using the benefits of remote technology, but the ‘personal touch’ is also an important part of the Ishida experience, so we are delighted to be able to interact face-to-face with our customers and prospects once again.”
