FOOD and nutrition specialist Huel has invested in Ishida multihead weighing, X-ray inspection and checkweighing technology at its manufacturing site in Milton Keynes.
The company manufactures a range of powdered meals, shakes, protein products, and ‘greens’ supplements. As production volumes and product diversity increased, Huel required weighing and inspection solutions that could provide the flexibility, accuracy and reliability needed to support future growth.
The Milton Keynes facility’s production lines handle a wide variety of products and pack formats, ranging from single-serve hot meal sachets and protein powders to larger, multi-serving nutrition products weighing up to 2.25kg.
As Huel frequently develops new products and enters new markets, operational flexibility was a key requirement. The company required weighing equipment capable of accurately dosing larger product inclusions without damaging ingredients, while inspection systems needed to deliver high-speed contamination detection and consistent weight verification across multiple production lines.
Huel also wanted a single-solution provider that could be deployed across different applications, simplifying operation, training and maintenance.
The solution from Ishida includes: CCW-RVE 24-head multihead weighing equipment; IX-EN-4093-S X-ray inspection systems; DACS-GN series checkweighers; integrated product feed systems for multihead weighing technology; and integrated rejection and quality control processes across all lines.
Across Huel’s production operations, Ishida’s multihead weighing equipment doses large product inclusions used within hot meal products.
The installed X-ray systems provide a range of quality control capabilities. In addition to the ability to detect foreign bodies, the systems can be taught to recognise and ignore approved and critical product components, such as measuring scoop and sauce sachets, thereby reducing false rejects and providing an additional layer of quality assurance.
At the end of each line is an Ishida DACS-GN series checkweigher, which provides weight verification together with production data reporting, trend analysis, and feedback control to the upstream dosing equipment.
Since installation, Ishida said its systems have provided Huel with the ‘accuracy, flexibility and reliability’ required to support fast-moving production environments and ongoing product innovation.
The X-ray and checkweigher systems can be changed over between products in as little as five minutes, allowing production teams to respond quickly to changing schedules, SKUs and product requirements.
The multihead weighing equipment incorporates intelligent features that automatically adjust feeder settings following cleaning procedures or production restarts.
The equipment’s ability to be customised and altered after installation has enabled Huel to adapt to evolving requirements. After Huel decided to switch from larger packs containing 13 servings to single-serve sachets to suit market demand, Ishida worked with the brand to modify existing multihead weighing equipment configurations.
Matthew Iredale, automation project engineer at Huel UK, said, “The flexibility of the Ishida equipment has been particularly valuable for our business. As we continue to develop new products and enter new markets, the systems have been able to adjust alongside our needs.
“The equipment is highly reliable, so unexpected downtime very rarely occurs. I’d even go as far as saying Ishida’s multihead weighing equipment is among the most reliable machinery in our factory. They’re also easy to operate and train, and deliver the accuracy and inspection performance we need to maintain high-quality standards across all our production lines.”
