Product inspection is moving further into process control as manufacturers expect more from equipment than a final pass or fail decision.
FB Tech asked Alberto Gómez, Regional Marketing Manager at German inspection technology manufacturer Wipotec, and Colin Seddon, Managing Director of Wipotec Australia, what manufacturers now expect from inspection systems, including production data, checkweighing, X-ray, vision inspection, and integrated systems.
FB: How is the role of inspection technology changing within food and beverage manufacturing, and what are manufacturers now looking for beyond the final acceptance or rejection of a product?
Alberto Gómez (A.G.): It’s been a while since product inspection became a holistic process-control tool rather than simply serving as a final “pass/fail” checkpoint. Food manufacturers are increasingly expected to strengthen foreign-body detection, process control and traceability, as physical contaminants remain a significant food-safety risk and supply-chain resilience becomes increasingly critical to maintaining consumer trust and confidence.
Colin Seddon (C.S.): Inspection technologies such as metal detection and X-ray are becoming an increasingly important part of preventive food-safety systems. In our country, these requirements are reinforced by the FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand binational agency) risk-based regulatory framework and mandatory traceability and recall systems.
Nowadays, manufacturers want inspection systems to provide continuous information about their production, such as weight, the presence of foreign bodies, completeness, and packaging. Making that data available for analysis and optimisation is becoming crucial.
For example, our customer Block House, the German restaurant group specialising in premium steaks, uses Wipotec systems not only to ensure quality but also to document controlled processes. Their inspection systems are connected through our management platform Comscale, allowing data to be evaluated and problems identified retrospectively. The objective is not simply to reject defective products, but to use inspection data to improve the complete process itself.
FB: How does Comscale help manufacturers use inspection data to understand production trends, support quality management and identify opportunities for improvement?
C.S.: Comscale turns inspection data into a resource for quality management and process improvement. The platform connects all inspection systems at a production site and maintains a constant overview, taking care of all the documentation, reporting, and data archiving. The data can be accessed at any time to identify deviations, evaluate the statistics, and even detect where problems have occurred in the past. During audits, it provides seamless documentation with very clear traceability. This demonstrates how inspection data can support both day-to-day production and longer-term quality management.
FB: How can checkweighing technology help manufacturers improve filling control, reduce product giveaway and maintain accuracy at production speed?
C.S.: Dynamic checkweighing gives manufacturers continuous control over individual product weights, allowing deviations from the target weight to be identified and corrective action taken. This helps maintain compliance while avoiding unnecessary overfilling and product giveaway. Accuracy must also be maintained under real-world production conditions, high speeds, vibrations, product residues, and more. This can only be achieved when equipment is designed and manufactured to the highest quality standards.
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