Advanced Rejection for Food Products Using Vision Inspection
Customized rejection systems designed to customer specifications will remove individual product from the production line once a fault has been detected.
A calibrated vision inspection system, when installed on a commercial bakery or processed foods production line, can remove the operator/inspector cull subjectivity to ensure 100% of products are graded equally. Additionally, the vision system tallies the rejects by fault type, something that is impossible for a manual inspector to perform, allowing data reports to aid staff in making process improvements. Using a variety of methods, non-conforming products can be automatically removed at very high speeds (over 100 objects per second). Manual inspection is prone to uneven results between different employees and may cause collateral waste. Also, a human may only be able to inspect a small number of products on a high-speed and/or wide production line.
Vision inspection systems have several advantages which include:
- Systems are calibrated to ensure measurements are accurate and repeatable, including color in L*a*b and BCU, producing reliable results which allow operators to control rejection criteria in both real-time and through historical analysis.
- High speed rejection methods are easily integrated into the current or new production line which remove 100% of customer designated faulty objects without disturbing the flow of product. Operators can be sure that products going to packing meets specifications.
- Rejection settings are completely in control of production and quality management, producing lower rejection rates and reduced wastage.
Choosing Your Rejection Mechanism
Montrose Technologies works closely with food production clients to choose the most effective and robust rejection solution for their products. The reject module design is influenced by a number of important factors which include – size/shape/firmness/weight of the objects being inspected, the rate of the production line and product presentation (single file, set lanes, random locations across the belt, orientation). Additionally, the reject design is influenced by handling requirements which may include multi-stage sorting or the reuse of faulty product.
When used in conjunction with a Montrose in-line or over-line vision inspection system, rejection systems help ensure that out-of-spec products are removed from the production line efficiently at high speeds without disrupting the process. Montrose MTInspect Software collects all measurement grading and rejection data and produces reports in a variety of formats allowing real-time and historical analysis for faults.
Whatever food product that you want to measure, Montrose Technologies has a solution to ensure it is in specification, and those that aren’t are quickly removed.
Montrose Technologies is a leading supplier of automated vision inspection, rejection and intelligent material handling systems. Its proprietary 2D/3D color imaging engine provides accurate size, shape, and color information for fast moving objects of any orientation. With over 300 systems installed worldwide, our customer list includes many of the biggest names in the food industry. Montrose Technologies was established in 1988 and is based is in Ottawa, Canada.
