Cheese Quality Enhanced by Ishida X-Ray

19/09/2017

Cheese Quality Enhanced by Ishida X-Ray

Specialist South African cheese supplier the “Famous Brands Cheese Company” has enhanced its stringent quality control standards with the adoption of Ishida X-ray inspection technology.

The company has installed an Ishida IX-GN-4044 X-ray inspection system to identify potential foreign bodies in 3kg packs of diced mozzarella cheese supplied for pizza toppings. In addition, the flexibility of the Ishida system has enabled it to use the machine for weight estimation as well.

Prior to the installation of the IX-GN, the “Famous Brands Cheese Company” had used metal detection for its quality inspection process but was attracted by the much wider capabilities of X-ray technology.

“With the IX-GN-4044 we can also search for glass as well as different metals and this means we can make our products even safer for our customers,” explains Richard Rudman, Operations Manager of the “Famous Brands Cheese Company”.

The Ishida IX-GN-4044 is in continual operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week, handling 20 tonnes of diced cheese every day at around 18 bags per minute. The speed of the line is currently governed by the capabilities of the bagmaker and the X-ray system has the capacity to operate at much higher speeds, providing a valuable element of future-proofing for the “Famous Brand Cheese Company’s” continued growth.

The company reports that the machine is very user-friendly, easy to operate and quick and easy to clean. Installation and training took only three days, and the machine then went into production straightaway and has been operating reliably ever since.

The “Famous Brand Cheese Company” approached Ishida for an X-ray solution as an existing user of the company’s multihead weighers.

“We were already familiar with the technical sophistication and reliability of Ishida equipment,” says Richard Rudman. “The production detection levels and consistency of the IX-GN-4044 are much higher than X-ray solutions offered by other suppliers while the weight estimation feature was an additional very interesting feature for us.

“We are delighted with the enhancements the Ishida X-ray inspection system has made to our quality control.”

The Ishida IX-GN-4044 is in continual operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week, handling 20 tonnes of diced cheese every day at around 18 bags per minute. The speed of the line is currently governed by the capabilities of the bagmaker and the X-ray system has the capacity to operate at much higher speeds, providing a valuable element of future-proofing for the “Famous Brand Cheese Company’s” continued growth.

The company reports that the machine is very user-friendly, easy to operate and quick and easy to clean. Installation and training took only three days, and the machine then went into production straightaway and has been operating reliably ever since.

“The Famous Brands Cheese Company” is managed by leading dairy company Coega Dairy. It supplies cheese products to the Famous Brands Group, Africa’s largest branded food service franchisor. These include mozzarella, cream cheese, processed cheese and cheddar and are used by the Famous Brands’ franchises, which include popular brands such as Debonairs, Steers, Wimpy Mugg and Bean, and Vovo Telo.