On stand E36 at this year’s PPMA Show in Birmingham, UK, Fortress Technology will present a compact, productive and compliant food production microcosm. There will be four interconnected food metal detectors working together, rejecting contaminated products, sharing data and weighing packages. 

Showcased for the first time at a UK exhibition, the Raptor Tritek is a 3-in-1 combination system that features metal detection, checkweighing and label inspection vision technologies in a single, easy-clean frame. Designed to improve TCO and OEE, it ensures food manufacturers maintain food safety compliance all-day-long, by prioritising metal detection on every pack, in a small inspection footprint. 

Demonstrating the inspection of large format applications weighing up to 25kg is the Fortress Technology Big Bag Combination System. Integrating metal detection and case weighing in one unit, this easy-to-use and ergonomic system handles bulky products effortlessly without slowing production lines. The system on show measures less than 1.7 metres without its heavy-duty reject conveyor (approximately 2.5 metres with the conveyor). 

Rather than requiring separate machines for each stage of the inspection process, this metal detector/checkweighing combination systems can work side by side and talk with each other using Industry 4.0 connectivity and automated data reporting. This helps to streamline quality control, improve user safety and minimise human errors. 

A standalone Stealth metal detector will demonstrate how all manufacturers can improve inspection operational efficiency and productivity at the final packaging stage. It can be built to match specific line heights, widths and plant configurations. 

“The industry is rapidly moving away from fragmented machinery toward cohesive equipment that prioritises productivity and supports operator free running,” explains Fortress Technology’s European commercial manager Jodie Curry.