Product Inspection Systems for Food and Pharma Manufacturers

Product Inspection Equipment

For Quality Control and Contamination Detection Processes

Our product inspection solutions support productivity, brand protection, and compliance aims for manufacturers of food and pharmaceutical products. Our extensive portfolio includes x-ray, metal detection, checkweighing and vision inspection. Additionally, our production inspection offerings include hardware and software for serialization and aggregation applications, and production monitoring software for efficient productivity analysis.

Test Centre

Complete Product Inspection Equipment For Processing and Packaging

Product inspection solutions from METTLER TOLEDO help verify the quality and integrity of your products, inside and out. As part of a company with global reach, we draw on a wealth of industry experience gained by working in genuine partnership with our worldwide customers. We are dedicated to serving the needs of our customers for the complete life cycle of their equipment, from commissioning to installation all the way to regular maintenance and servicing.

With our in-depth understanding of the challenges faced by manufacturers, we have developed an extensive product portfolio of advanced inspection technologies to respond to the diverse requirements of our customers. Our range of product inspection equipment includes sophisticated metal contaminant detectors, highly accurate dynamic checkweighers, cutting-edge x-ray technology and state-of-the-art machine vision systems. These systems are available as standalone, combination or integrated solutions within your production equipment. Our outstanding global service excellence completes our global portfolio. Each solution we offer is the result of many years of experience gained working in close partnership with our customers in a wide variety of industries and markets across the globe. This same experience has produced ProdX, a productivity monitoring software which we designed to help enhance data collection and future proof your product inspection systems against Industry 4.0 initiatives.

Every one of our products has been designed to:

  • Help protect your brand and keep consumers safe through the use of advanced technologies
  • Increase productivity and profitability
  • Uphold quality to comply with industry legislation and codes of practice
  • Benefit your business, protect your reputation, and help you maintain your competitive advantage

 

Product Inspection Technology Overview

Checkweighing solutions

Deliver 100% weight and completeness control, enhanced productivity and profitability via a comprehensive line of checkweighers for the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical and non-food industries. Our hygienic checkweigher range is rated IP69 and stands up to harsh cleaning routines and most caustic detergents. A wide range of spacing, handling and sorting options support nearly any package design, while our FlashCell EMFR technology delivers precise weighing results even at high speeds of up to 800 ppm. This weighing technology helps deliver accurate product delivery, reduced giveaway, and optimized production processes.

Safeline metal detectors

Inspect products in all formats for metal contamination - from packaged conveyorized food products and bulk powder or granular materials to liquids, pastes and slurries. Metal detection food inspection systems help you to comply with food safety inspection standards, industry guidance and legislation, and help you protect consumers and your brand from metal-contaminated products. METTLER TOLEDO Safeline pharmaceutical metal detectors are self-contained inspection systems for use with all tablets, capsules, and pharmaceutical powders. These product inspection systems help ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, validation, verification, and qualification of procedures.

Safeline x-ray inspection

Contamination detection and quality control checks in one machine. Food, beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers worldwide rely on inline x-ray inspection systems to protect the welfare of consumers and safeguard brand reputations, minimize the risk of expensive product recalls, and help with regulatory compliance. METTLER TOLEDO Safeline x-ray inspection systems offer safety and quality assurance at every stage of the production process for raw, bulk-flow (loose), pumped and packaged products. Neither foil nor metallized film packaging affect the sensitivity of contaminant detection by the x-ray.

Vision inspection systems

Designed from the ground up to inspect product label quality across all market segments and packaging types, with the flexibility to perform additional formation and integrity checks on packaging. Machine vision systems perform accurate screw or snap-on caps, label and package quality inspections on plastic containers, glass bottles, jars, flat packages, cartons, and pill packs. These product inspection systems operate at high speeds, allowing you to maintain throughput without compromising label and package quality.

Track & Trace solutions

Track and trace systems for supply chain visibility offer product traceability and counterfeiting detection. We offer both integrated and standalone track and trace solutions for serialization, aggregation, and verification solutions to support compliance with worldwide regulations for serialization and aggregation of pharmaceutical packaging. Reliable and fast code-reading technology, coupled with the latest integrated camera controls (tailored to the specific requirements of the pharmaceutical packaging industry) help with the smooth execution of packaging quality control procedures. Central line and data management software modules are also key components in this process. As a result, track and trace solutions are seamlessly integrated into the packaging process.

ProdX

Advanced productivity software for real-time monitoring of product inspection equipment. ProdX supports quality control schemes, enhances production, and simplifies line operation. The software connects directly to METTLER TOLEDO Product Inspection equipment, providing critical runtime data that can be accessed from anywhere, allowing for remote monitoring. In addition, ProdX logs and stores all performance monitoring test results for an easier auditing process.

Combination inspection systems

If you have multiple inspection requirements and space constraints, you may find it useful to integrate multiple inspections in a single point on your production line. Mix and match multiple inspection technologies based on your specific needs into a single, cost-effective system. Combine checkweighing, metal detection, x-ray, and vision inspection into one space-saving solution that makes efficient use of available space on your production line.

Fully Integrated Product Inspection Solutions Tailored to Suit Your Needs

Whatever your inline product inspection needs, we provide standalone or fully integrated systems to address your challenges. The brands of METTLER TOLEDO Product Inspection Systems – Garvens, Hi-Speed, Safeline, CI-Vision and PCE – combine to give you a comprehensive range of product inspection equipment, all supported by a truly global service network. We work closely with other equipment manufacturers to design production equipment with integrated inspection systems. Our own teams have designed combination inspection systems that help establish true critical control points with multiple inspection technologies on the production line.

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FAQs

Why is product inspection equipment important in manufacturing?

Reliable product inspection equipment is a vital part of the production process, helping to verify that products are free of contamination and look their best. Product inspection helps to:

  • Prevent end-of-line defects and faulty or contaminated products
  • Automate final inspection processes to increase production efficiency
  • Prevent common or repeat mistakes caused by human error
  • Verify the high quality of your products and protect your brand
  • Maintain the life of your equipment through comprehensive service offerings

What industries benefit from product inspection?

Food and beverage industries

Product inspection helps to support the delivery of products that are correct, complete, and safe - inside and out. These systems provide inline product inspection solutions for the processing and packaging of wet, dry, fresh, and frozen food. They help prevent contaminated and under or overweight products from reaching consumers and verify that products have no defects and look their best when they leave the production facility. In addition, product inspection systems help businesses comply with industry legislation and codes of practice including IFS, BRCGS, SQF and FSSC 22000 standards.

Pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries

From in-process to end-of-line applications, product inspection can help manufacturers deliver high product quality and integrity to their clients with the efficient and safe removal of contaminated, underweight, overweight, incomplete, or damaged products. METTLER TOLEDO also offers complete solutions for serialization and aggregation applications – necessary for effective Track & Trace programs – which help improve supply chain security and prevent the spread of counterfeit drugs. Our software provides complete digital audit trails to help prove compliance with all relevant regulations. We can also support quality inspection of medical devices using our x-ray inspection solutions.

Cosmetic and chemical industries

Product inspection systems can be tailored to fit specific manufacturing challenges. The most advanced inline product inspection systems are optimized for a wide variety of applications and products – providing total confidence in the inspection, weighing, and sorting of bulk liquids, powders, or granules to small and medium-sized packaged consumer goods. End of the line inspection of final packaging such as cartons and cases is also possible.

What are the applications product inspection can perform?

Physical contamination detection

Contaminated products can cause serious harm if they reach a consumer; they can also cause an enormous headache for manufacturers. They result in costly recalls and retailer fines, as well as damage to brand reputation. To remain compliant with industry regulations and retailer standards, manufacturers must have contamination detection capabilities. Product inspection systems can detect a variety of different contaminants, including metal, glass, plastics, mineral stone, calcified bone, and rubber. Depending on the specific requirements of your application, you may require either a metal detection or an x-ray system (or both).

Package fill control and inspection

Unnecessary product giveaway can result in lost profits, while underfilling of products can result in fines or even a product recall. It is important to have a method for verifying that the required amount of product is present within its packaging. Inline checkweighing systems verify the weight of every single product on the production line and can even provide real-time feedback and control of filling systems to help avoid both over and underfilling of product packaging, in accordance with relevant weighing regulations. X-ray systems can also perform checks on products to verify kit completion for packages with multiple components.

Content and package quality inspection

There are a number of factors that go into making sure final products look their best and are not at risk of being damaged or spoiled in transit. Detecting packaging faults early in the process maintains your product quality, while also reducing the need for product re-work and potential waste further down the processing line. Vision systems inspect every package as it travels on the production line, verifying packaging quality.

Label inspection

Product labeling is the final line of communication between producer and customer. It is also an easily prevented source of product recalls. Vision inspection systems verify the presence, contents, and readability of product labels to prevent label mix-up as well as label data and quality issues.

Product integrity inspection

Product integrity refers to the completeness or wholeness of a product. This can refer to everything from the presence of all expected pieces in a kit to damaged or broken goods contained within a case. Product inspection equipment can identify damaged, underfilled or incomplete products through a variety of methods, from checkweighing to vision inspection to x-ray inspection.

Can product inspection technology help with traceability, data collection, and system integration?

Track and Trace

Product inspection solutions can include equipment for serialization and aggregation applications. The serialization of products increases their traceability as they travel through the supply chain, which in turn helps prevent grey market sales and counterfeiting. Track and trace systems can handle the complete process, from generating/requesting unique serial numbers for individual packages through to aggregating numbers for cases and pallets.

Statistical process and quality control

Product inspection systems generate runtime data, which can be transmitted to central control systems, allowing for a real time view of system performance. ProdX productivity software from METTLER TOLEDO delivers comprehensive reports for compliance with national and international laws or standards and can be a key element of your digitalization strategy.

System integration and OEM partnerships

Standalone product inspection systems do not always provide the best use of space on the production line - particularly when that space is limited. To provide the best possible product inspection solutions to our customers, METTLER TOLEDO will work closely together with other OEMs to design and build production equipment with integrated product inspection capabilities, making efficient use of space.

What types of physical contamination can product inspection equipment find?

X-ray inspection systems can detect a variety of foreign contamination from metal, glass, dense plastics, mineral deposits, calcified bone and rubber.  Metal detection systems can detect all types of metal including ferrous, non-ferrous and stainless steel. These contaminants can be readily found using modern product inspection systems on fast moving production lines. The level of detection sensitivity of the equipment will generally depend on the following (among other factors):

  • The size and location of the contaminant
  • The speed of the production line
  • The comparative density of the contaminant to the product being inspected
  • The type of product packaging material

 

How do I figure out which product inspection solution best fits my needs?

Making the sort of capital investment that purchasing product inspection equipment represents can be a long process, and it is important to have as much information as possible. To help make your decision easier, METTLER TOLEDO has a variety of different options for learning more about our systems, including in-person and virtual demos, along with test centers to demonstrate the capabilities of our inspection systems on your products.

We also offer a wide variety of rental machines which give you the flexibility of trying out a system before you invest in ownership.

How can I get a product inspection system quickly?

Sometimes there is no time for a lengthy acquisition of capital equipment; other times you may only need a particular piece of equipment for a limited production run. In select global locations, METTLER TOLEDO offers a quick ship option for many of our standard systems, allowing them to be rapidly dispatched to your production facility. Rental systems are also available, allowing you to quickly install a complete functional product inspection system and get your production process up and running as soon as possible.