The fast track to food safety
By Canadian Packaging staff
Automation Food Safety General Coding & Labeling X-Ray continuous inkjet coding Domino food safety equipment Peco InspX X-Ray technologyDomino and Peco InspX join to allow food manufacturers to comply with food safety requirements while maintaining optimal on-line efficiency. Read the case study:
Domino’s continuous inkjet coding combined with Peco InspX’s X-Ray technology join forces with an innovative application of “printing on the rejected cans” to support the driving demands from manufacturers using canned food and beverage to comply with food safety requirements while maintaining optimal efficiency on the line.
Peco InspX and Domino have created an industry-wide solution to help food and beverage manufacturers meet the USFDA (United States Food & Drug Administration)’s requirements.
“In collaboration with Peco InspX, we have come up with a solution that provides perfect coding, perfect traceabilty. And, the ability to find Peco InspX’s nomenclature codes that the Domino printer can put on your cans,” Domino North America canning sector development manager David Deagle states. “Because of the speeds food canning lines are moving these days, the ability to actually track down the can that got rejected is the major solution that we’re providing now.”
Background
Peco InspX is a leader in developing inspection systems for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries.
Based in Silicon Valley, Peco InspX integrates the latest technology—including X-Ray imaging—with high-performance inspection equipment.
Peco InspX’s advanced imaging technology can detect a variety of foreign materials (metal, rock, stone, bone, glass) and defects (underfill, overfill, missing lid, double lid, dents) in can and glass jar applications. The imaging technology can detect materials as small as 0.8 mm, providing manufacturers with ultimate transparency during the packaging process.
The Situation
Since the FDA began regulating food safety with FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) in January 2011—it aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it—Peco InspX’s X-Ray imaging has become increasingly important to food and beverage companies nationwide. A key aspect of complying with the new law, and other food safety schemes, is increased demand for traceability which includes identifying foreign material in a controlled and managed environment.
“One of the challenges of a canning application is the high speed that cans run at,” Peco InspX general sales manager Martin Lymn says, noting that some facilities run up to 2,000 cans per minute. “We’re taking an X- Ray image and identifying any defects in that can.”
Once a foreign material containment is detected, best practice is to not only remove the can from the line, but also document the can and understand the source. This is where Domino coding comes into play.
The Partnership Solution
Because many of the world’s largest beverage producers trust Domino for fast reliable coding on every substrate, Peco InspX knew Domino would be the premier partner for their imaging technology. Peco InspX employsDomino’s Continuous Ink Jet printers to quickly and permanently print traceability codes directly onto the packaging of rejected products. Then, by matching the code on the PECO InspX X-Ray system to the code on the rejected package, technicians can quickly locate foreign material.
“If we can tell from the image that ‘can number 123’ has a big rock in it, then we know what we’re looking for,” Lymn explains. “If we can tell that ‘can number 456’ is an ‘underfill can’ then we don’t have to waste their time.”
That is where Domino and InspX together are delivering a unique solution—because, as Lymn reiterates and most manufacturers know, “time is money.”
Peco InspX and Domino have created an industry-wide solution to help food and beverage manufacturers meet the FDA’s requirements.
The solution from the two companies offers perfect coding, perfect traceabilty.
Watch a video describing the solution HERE.
Rewriting the Relationship
Domino’s continuous inkjet printer coupled with Peco InspX’s X-Ray imaging technology now can be seamlessly integrated onto the line as a ground-breaking service, helping food and beverage makers maintain food safety and their productivity goals. “It’s now available as a first in the industry to any existing user or new user of the Peco InspX and Domino equipment,” Lymn says.
For company information on Peco, visit www.peco-inspx.com, call 510-226-6686, or contact them via e-mail at info@peco-inspx.com.
For information on Domino, visit www.domino-na.com, contact them via e-mail at solutions@domino-na.com, or call at 800-444-4512.
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