Benefits of automating weight checking

Spanish company, Splendid Foods, specialises in the production of cured sausages. All the company’s work systems are based on strict production processes, which are certified for quality by the IFS (International Featured Standard) and the BRC (British Retail Consortium). The adequate weight check system plays a key role in the process. 

Depending on the production order, a computerised system selects the meat as well as the quantities of ingredients and spices to be used. After a first weighing, the product goes to the processing room where it undergoes a chopping and mixing process. After a period of rest, the mixture is stuffed into natural casings, from where it is taken to the drying sheds. Finally, from there it goes to the shipping room to be packaged and boxed.

An important part of quality control at the factory involves verification of the weight of the finished products before proceeding to the final packaging. Traditionally, the quality team would carry out manual statistical controls, which consisted of checking a predetermined quantity of units for each batch shipped. The process was performed by an operator who weighed a sample of 80 units per batch on a static desktop scale (off-line). The resulting information is recorded in an Excel document. Commenting on the operation, Oriol Rodríguez from the quality department at Splendid Foods, said: “This task represented significant time investment and left the door open to possible human errors.”

The company realised that there was a need to automate this process to raise the quality standard and ensure 100% final product control. It would also allow them to have a comprehensive view of production and reliable data to analyse in order to apply any necessary adjustments and corrections. 

The company called on WIPOTEC-OCS for a solution, who suggested the EC-E type checkweighers which were installed on three different production lines after primary packaging stations.

With a throughput of up to 150 products per minute, the checkweighers form the basis for efficient production planning, being equipped with an electromagnetic force restoration (EMFR) weigh cell to ensure reliable weight readings.

The user interface is designed to allow quick and intuitive operation and includes different menus for production control and review of statistics and histograms. It can store up to 200 items and the various possible settings to suit the needs of each project make it a robust and versatile machine for weight check in many different production environments.

The weigh cell technology improves the speed and reliability of each weighing in dynamic environments. In addition, the product flow control ensures that no discarded or additional units leave the checkweigher.

As automatic weighing instruments, and a stipulation of Splendid Foods, the checkweighers are MID compliant (Measuring Instruments Directive) which enables Splendid Foods to work fully transparently and automatically, according to the Average Weigh Control of Prepackaged Products (RD 1801/2008), respecting the tolerable negative errors with respect to the nominal quantities specified on the packages.

Commenting on the benefits of automating this quality control process step David Garcia-Gassull CEO at Splendid Foods, said: “It gives us the peace of mind of guaranteeing the weight of deliveries to our customers, which contributes to raising the final quality of the product and reducing incidents. It has also contributed to improving our productivity as it allows us to ensure the continuity of the process by eliminating manual weighing.”

The final word about quality control goes to Rodríguez: “We can now detect deviations in the process and implement corrective measures. Now we know with greater accuracy and foresight whether the drying time of the sausage is right. Testing the weight enables us to detect whether the injected mass is correct or if, on the contrary, the filling is too heavy and it is necessary to increase the drying time.”