AS more advanced metal detection equipment enters the market, Fortress Technology has revealed it has engineered a retailer-spec conveyor system that meets all due diligence requirements for product and application needs.
Fully compliant with BRC, HACCP and GFSI food safety standards, the Fortress all-in-one
Retail Spec Conveyor boast features including ARM microprocessing power and infeed, outfeed and reject sensors.
Fortress explained that many of its customers testify that purchasing a conveyor system with fully integrated technology, including retailer Codes of Practice (COP), is a ‘failsafe’ way of ensuring the metal detector will function at peak performance levels and meet both current and future inspection performance requirements of retailers.
The manufacturer added that the Retail Spec Conveyor is less about belt size or configuration, but more linked to the placement of smart sensors.
Sales manager Jaison Anand said, “In our experience, food processors can feel overwhelmed by the breadth of inspection technology choices. Built to M&S food standards, the rationale for creating our Retailer Spec Conveyor was to address this minefield and provide customers with future-proof functionality.”
Jaison affirmed that Fortress uses M&S food safety standards as the benchmark, as they are the most stringent. Machine sensors feature at every step of the inspection process. As packs travel into a Fortress metal detector, the infeed sensor registers its presence. If there’s no contamination trigger, the outfeed sensor identifies the pack leaving the metal detector, while the reject sensor will track the placement of potentially contaminated product into the BRC-approved bins.
“It’s a seamless and failsafe process that uses our Contact software to register every sensor activity, fault fix and signal in parallel,” Jaison continued. “The true benefit of ARM Processing comes from being able to run multiple inspection processes within milli-seconds of each other, without missing a beat. This is done with the highest precision, while also capturing and storing valuable processing data for traceability.”
For nut specialist Trigon Snacks, opting for a Fortress Stealth supermarket spec conveyor metal detector fulfilled the company’s inspection requirements. Retailer COPs specified that as ‘naked nuts’ the company’s honey-coated range must be inspected for metal contaminants prior to own-label packaging. Additionally, Trigon required a customised retailer specification metal detector that was sensitive enough to adapt to the fine oil and sugar tolerances.
Fortress explained that retailer COP revisions, although infrequent, can be a headache for food processors and machinery manufacturers. To navigate future unknowns, the firm said it offers a ‘simple and cost effective’ route to adhere to evolving compliance and fault warning risks. Software upgrades can usually be performed as part of a validation or routine maintenance visit.
For smarter machine monitoring and to support supply chain traceability, the company’s suite of Contact software offers data capture. This now includes Contact 4.0 for remote monitoring of multiple metal detectors within the network. Features include event logging, data collection and on-demand reports. This data is collated from information captured by the three machine sensors.
Comparing the costs of purchasing a new machine versus a Fortress upgrade, Jaison said, “You are typically looking at several hundred rather than tens of thousands of pounds buying new inspection kit. Most importantly for fast-paced food processing environments, compliance can be instant.”
Jaison highlighted that, realistically, changes to COPs focus on fail safes and addressing machine misuse loopholes. He said there haven’t been any significant revisions for nearly seven years. “Nevertheless, we never take our eye off the ball,” he revealed. “As soon as a new quality control or COP feature is added, Fortress R&D can be trusted to be on the upgrade case.”
