To submit a news item for inclusion, please contact Suzanne Christiansen at suzanne@bellpublishing.com or Maddy Barron at maddy@bellpublishing.com.

• New training opportunities made available at the Gerhard Schubert Training Centre
• Mettler-Toledo announces Flow Wrap Applications webinar
• Amcor expands packaging capacity in Wisconsin, US
• Amcor speaks for packaging at the International Cheese & Dairy Expo
• Johannes Schubert takes over as head of sales at Schubert
• Südpack to present sustainable packaging solutions at CheeseExpo

The post Roundup: Packaging appeared first on Dairy Industries International.

In this impactful session, attendees will hear from industry experts as they explore the challenges confronting food manufacturers packaging products in flow wraps. Against the backdrop of evolving packaging regulations, manufacturers grapple with intricate challenges, including packaging complexities and accelerated production, all of which can diminish crucial manufacturing time and accuracy. This webinar will explore strategies for navigating these constraints to combat rising manufacturing costs and enhance production efficiency.

Experts on the webinar will discuss four key steps to optimise product quality in packaging. These steps include advanced inspection technologies such as metal detection, x-ray, vision technology and checkweighing, specifically tailored to address the unique requirements of horizontal flow-wrapped production lines for high-speed applications, such as snacks.

Presenting this insightful webinar is Niall McRory, the Global Key Account Manager at Mettler-Toledo who brings over 24 years’ experience and expertise in food safety. With a focus on creating global standardisation of supply, he has spearheaded initiatives that have led to reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and provided best-in-class Product Inspection sales and service support.

“We understand the critical importance of maintaining product quality and safety in flow wrap applications, especially in the fast-paced snack industry,” says Niall McRory. “Our webinar aims to provide practical strategies and demonstrations to help manufacturers maximise efficiency and compliance in their production processes.”

The programme’s main focal points include:

Production Principles and Manufacturer Needs:

• Understanding the fundamental principles guiding production processes and the specific needs of manufacturers in the industry.

Product Inspection Application Along the Horizontal Flow Wrap Line:

• Exploring the application of product inspection technologies throughout the horizontal flow wrap line to facilitate comprehensive quality control.

Inspection of Raw Product:

• Examining the importance of inspecting raw products before they enter the packaging process to detect any contaminants or irregularities and save packaging material costs.

Inspection After Primary Packaging:

• Highlighting the significance of inspecting products after primary packaging to verify packaging integrity and offer highest product quality.

Inspection After Secondary Packaging:

• Discussing the necessity of inspecting products after secondary packaging for bulk goods to address any potential issues introduced during this stage.

Data Management and Service Offering:

• Exploring the role of data management solutions such as PRODX^TM in overseeing product inspection processes and the importance of service offerings in ensuring equipment reliability and performance.

Register here to secure your place on the webinar and to better understand how to maximise product quality in flow wrap applications or visit www.mt.com/pi-flowwrap-webinar-pr.

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Exhibitors such as CEM, Wafilin Systems, JWCI, Water Technology, Blackwater Engineering, Yorkshire Dama and Mettler Toledo joining us, along with Masterpack, Fristam Pumps, Bioscan and bioMérieux UK Ltd, as well as Beijing Kwinbon Technology, DFDS Logistics and MADCAP – just naming a few. With exhibitors coming from all over the world, it promises to be an exciting day at the show.

There will also be the much-heralded international cheese judging, with cheeses and dairy arriving from all corners of the globe. This event is in its 128th year, and continues to get bigger and better as it gets older. Thousands of cheeses and dairy products are inspected by judges from every part of the industry, from cheese maker to retail buyers, and awards given out for best in class and Supreme Champion.

A networking lunch, sponsored by Ecolab, is also occurring during the show on the 27th. As an attendee, one can pop in and out of the seminars that we are having in the middle of the exhibition floor. It will be a worthwhile day out.

Do keep an eye out for more announcements about keynote speakers and exhibitors. The exhibition spaces are already about 80 per cent sold out, so if you want to join us with a stand, act quickly and contact Samantha Bull at sam@bellpublishing.com, 0773 887 8831.

The post Setting up for the Expo appeared first on Dairy Industries International.

To submit a news item for inclusion, please contact Suzanne Christiansen at suzanne@bellpublishing.com or Maddy Barron at maddy@bellpublishing.com.

• Mettler-Toledo unveils Enhanced ProdX data management software for food manufacturers 
• Lyras expands operations with the announcement of its first UK partner, Sycamore
• Atlas Copco introduces next-generation vacuum pumps
• Tetra Pak launches future food research hub with Lund University
• Fortress Technology expands global reach

The post Roundup: Dairy Processing appeared first on Dairy Industries International.

is proud to announce the latest version of its advanced data management software, ProdX. Designed for food manufacturers,

ProdX 2.6

The primary objective behind the new software enhancements to ProdX 2.6 was the commitment of Mettler-Toledo to meeting the exacting demands of food manufacturers searching for comprehensive, efficient and data-driven solutions. Positioned as a cornerstone of quality control and data management in food production, ProdX 2.6 seamlessly integrates with Mettler-Toledo product inspection equipment – x-ray inspection, metal detection, checkweighing and vision inspection – facilitating the secure collection and management of critical inspection data.  

Whether monitoring reject statistics, contamination events or generating reports, the update empowers users with a high level of accessibility and automation. In industries such as food manufacturing, where precision and efficiency are paramount, ProdX 2.6 addresses these priorities head-on. It allows manufacturers immediate access to data to make informed decisions to improve production line performance and meet the highest quality standards. 

Improving Data Management for Food Manufacturers 

ProdX plays a pivotal role in food manufacturing by seamlessly collecting and safeguarding inspection data from Product Inspection devices. It acts as a secure repository, archiving this critical data in a tamper-proof central server while offering the flexibility to generate ad-hoc or automated reports. 

With the newly updated ProdX 2.6, Mettler-Toledo meets customer requirements better by offering several key additional benefits, including: 

Optimised Web Dashboard – Data at Your Fingertips: In the latest update, ProdX 2.6 now features an optimised web dashboard. This advanced web-based interface offers users the ability to access and monitor their data on smart devices like tablets and smartphones, eliminating the need to install additional software applications.  

Users can effortlessly review critical information, such as reject statistics and contamination events, and generate reports by simply accessing the dashboard via a web browser. This update opens new avenues for data accessibility, making it available to anyone connected to the network, whether wirelessly or through a cable connection. Users with VPN access can also conveniently view data through their web browser. 

Streamlined User Experience – Logging into Inspection Equipment: The updated software also simplifies the user experience by enabling workers to use their ProdX login credentials to access Mettler-Toledo product inspection equipment. This integration enhances operational efficiency and offers a seamless transition between tasks, promoting ease of use. 

Automated Reporting – Valuable Insights Readily Available: Another significant improvement to ProdX 2.6 is its capability to automate the generation of final evaluations and summary reports. This advancement streamlines reporting processes, allowing users to trigger final evaluations at the end of product runs, shifts or days automatically. Additionally, users can program automated reports in various formats and delivery methods for daily, weekly and monthly summaries. By automating these processes, users gain valuable insights by easily comparing runs, shifts and specific time frames, identifying opportunities for improvement. 

Enhanced Changeover – Flexibility and Improved Sustainability: The new software also provides food manufacturers with increased flexibility and efficiency during product changeovers. Manufacturers can now switch over their product inspection systems simultaneously or selectively, either from a master device or remotely. This feature is particularly valuable in industries with extended manufacturing processes, such as chocolate production, where batch changeovers can occur while products move along the production line.  

This newly enhanced product changeover functionality not only reduces downtime but also minimises product wastage, promoting sustainability and cost savings. Additionally, as it is a paperless system, ProdX helps manufacturers to contribute to environmental sustainability by reducing daily paper usage. 

Peter Spring, ProdX product manager at Mettler-Toledo, says, “ProdX 2.6 represents a leap forward in manufacturing productivity. By simplifying and automating documentation and reporting processes, this new version eliminates the arduous task of manual data compilation that manufacturers once grappled with. Administrative productivity receives a substantial boost, freeing up valuable time and resources that can now be channeled into more strategic and value-added activities. These combined enhancements, alongside the sustainability improvements ProdX 2.6 offers, are poised to greatly improve the way food manufacturers operate, enhancing productivity, efficiency and sustainability”.

Other key updates to the software include: 

Product Validation Capability – Security and Compliance: For x-ray inspection systems, ProdX 2.6 introduces a product validation capability, a crucial feature for maintaining product setting integrity. This capability provides a visual indicator to confirm that the system is inspecting a product using validated setting parameters. In case any parameters are altered, the login used and the changes made are recorded. Additionally, the x-ray system’s product parameters are now stored in ProdX for remote viewing, regardless of whether these parameters can be edited remotely. 

Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture (OPC UA) Weighing Technology Integration – Seamless Connectivity: ProdX now also complies with the Open Platform Communication foundation’s weighing technology companion specification, facilitating effortless integration with checkweighers within this standard. This integration not only streamlines the connection between ProdX and third-party checkweighers, but also allows for seamless data exchange, enhancing overall operational efficiency and providing manufacturers with real-time insights critical for precision control and compliance. 

For more information, visit www.mt.com/prodx-pr or click here 

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While there was much variation across the exhibitors and innovations on display, there were undeniably certain themes that recurred throughout much of the show floor, namely: sustainability, automation and digitalisation. And even across those themes there was overlap. This is because, since Covid-19, or quite likely as a result of it, it was demonstrated at Interpack that the entirety of the industry across the length and breadth of the supply chain are facing the same set of challenges, and therefore are working to combat and provide solutions to said challenges wherever they can.

Skill sets

This, first of all, begins with labour and skills shortages. Something that began during the pandemic and has remained in some format, whereby not only can factories not employ enough personnel, but too many of them lack the levels of experience and knowledge necessary to run as before. Mettler-Toledo was one of the companies exhibiting its response to this challenge at the show, with its X2 Series x-ray solution, which among its many other features and attributes, has been designed to simplify cleaning and maintenance routines, removing the need for complex training, with a front-opening design and a belt that can be removed without tools, explained Rob Faes, account manager, Mettler-Toledo product inspection.

On the flip side, there were also innovations focused on training and supporting workers on the factory floor. This came in the form of augmented (or ‘extended’) reality, virtual reality and digital twins, to which almost every company Dairy Industries International spoke to alluded in some way, with Rockwell Automation and tna solutions even having VR headsets on their stands to offer visitors the full experience. Using VR, digital twins of machines can be created, offering customers the opportunity to monitor and train staff on the machinery remotely, as well as completely design, commission, and test a product line from start to finish before it is even built, explained a spokesperson for tna. Accompanied also by AR, these technologies can additionally be used to assist in changeover and maintenance, demonstrating to the operator what steps need to be taken and even how to go about performing them.

This technology is also all about cost savings. With inflation fuelled by the detritus of the pandemic and by the war in Ukraine, prices are high for both the consumer and the manufacturers, so wherever costs can be cut, the better. AR, VR and digital twins can help companies economise; Rockwell’s Emulate3D software allows whole product lines to be tested in realistic scenarios, virtually, responding to conditions as it would in the real world, with the aim of foreseeing potential issues or design flaws ahead of time, and therefore saving on cost.

Rockwell’s objectives at interpack, explained Roger Gaemperle, head of industry strategy and marketing CPG & LS EMEA, Rockwell Automation, was to not only demonstrate its VR and digital twin technology, but to showcase the company’s “complete capabilities and the full play out,” while bringing together its partner ecosystem with end users. This was the spirit of much of this year’s show, with companies and professionals eager to reconnect relationships stretched out over the prolonged absence of interpack.

While this absence proved challenging for many, the economic, political and social conditions have created a catalyst for innovation, as Jorge Izquierdo, vice president, market development, PMMI, detailed in the company’s media briefing at the show. “Remote access has been available for a long time, maybe over ten years, but the problem was the adoption of remote technologies when many of the CPG companies have concerns over cybersecurity. But during Covid it, quite happily, accelerated; it was the only option.”

This was also a big focus for Syntegon: “It’s a very data driven journey,” said Johan Nilsson, member of the executive board, CSO, Syntegon. The company is launching Synexio, its brand for digital solutions for customers which is cloud-based, allowing for remote access and connectivity on or off the factory floor. Nilsson continued, “It’s a lot about data collecting, different data, displaying it to raise awareness, create transparency, but also in what’s often known as decision support systems,” to inform operators of the most correct and efficient action, based on data, once again providing a solution to the skill and training shortages in the work force.

Rockwell had on display its own version of this need for cloud-based connectivity with Fiix, an AI-powered computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). Through it, all Rockwell’s software systems can be connected, communicating with one another, becoming more efficient and powerful through the use of the artificial intelligence. This can help a customer monitor energy consumption through Rockwell’s Model Predictive Control (MPC) technology, Gaemperle explained, “To cool down the milk and reduce the moisture level, that costs a lot of energy and if we can optimise it with an MPC solution, or going forward help with artificial intelligence to optimise the process, that can save you a lot of energy.”

Furthermore, there is this demand, according to PMMI’s Izquierdo, for machinery to be able to cope with such packaging material changes from one customer to the next, as well as be adaptable for any future material innovations, especially in the realm of sustainability and recyclability, that have yet to come. “What we are finding is, in terms of operations, a lot of material and formats change continuously. You change one year to a new material, next year for the new product, and then you’re changing to another new material. It’s a continuous change, one after the other. It’s a chase for what’s the best fit for different markets,” commented Izquierdo. Therefore, machines have to be exceedingly adaptable, as companies are not wanting to spend on whole lines of new equipment, they would much rather adapt what they have to a new line, or have one piece of equipment that works with multiple of their CPGs.

This was something Sidel showcased on its show stand. Jean-Marc Passemard, senior manager, marketing communications – FHPC Markets, Sidel, demonstrated how the Cermex ProSelex, a flexible collating system for complex unstable bottles, on its international debut at interpack, could be easily altered for different product and packing formats. Each changeable part was easily accessible and lightweight, meaning that extensive training is not required for the operator in charge of the changeover, and the changeover itself is shortened to an average of one minute for a new collation to two and a half minutes for a complete bottle change. Sidel even offers the option for the machine, through automation, to changeover itself to preset specifications.

Not only does reducing downtime improve line throughput and therefore increase profits, it also saves energy, which is both beneficial from an economic point of view, but also from a sustainability point of view. Sustainability was naturally unavoidable as a show topic at Interpack, as it is the food and drink sector in particular that is being looked to by consumers to improve, due to its reliance on single-use packaging. Exhibitors at the show had set themselves sustainability targets and had made technical adaptations to their machinery – either to adapt it to sustainable packaging choices and formats, or to reduce energy or even water consumption.

Overall, the 2023 installment of Interpack was a veritable success, with 96 per cent of visitors stating that they had achieved their trade fair objectives, according to its organisers. Certainly at least that many were also breathing a collective and anticipatory sigh of relief to be back once again, interacting with colleagues and clients, with business as normal, or at least the new normal, as the industry could almost be considered unrecognisable considering the dramatic adaptations and innovations it has undergone since, and as a result of, the Covid-19 pandemic. Much can thus be anticipated for the show’s return to Düsseldorf, from 7-13 May 2026.

The post Back to business appeared first on Dairy Industries International.

“This decision was not an easy one for us. However, we see it as our responsibility to protect the health of our customers, our employees, and everyone involved in the trade fair environment,” said Rainer Mundt, head of marketing at Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection Germany.

Mettler-Toledo will instead set up a digital alternative to Interpack 2021 to provide information about innovations in the product and service portfolio.

The post Mettler-Toledo cancels participation in Interpack 2021 appeared first on Dairy Industries International.

“Coronavirus may have delayed Interpack until next year however we felt that it was vital to still showcase our latest product inspection technology innovations to help food and pharmaceutical manufacturers meet the increased demand for safe, high quality products. Individuals can log on for free and learn about industry trends, best practises, and chat to experts about how they can improve their manufacturing processes plus meet consumer and regulatory demands,” said Paul Lerigo, marketing manager – Product Inspection Division, Mettler-Toledo.

Mettler-Toledo will showcase the following checkweighing and product data checks innovations:

C33 PlusLine Washdown Checkweigher for Robust Performance

A combination of reliable weighing accuracy with rugged machine design, Mettler-Toledo’s C33 PlusLine delivers high precision weighing in harsh environments. The system is designed to make cleaning and maintenance simple; with easy dismantling and reassembly of system conveyors – including self-adjusting elastic belts that remove the need for tensioning. In most cases, cleaning with the parts in place is possible and the flip-up design of the conveyors allows easy access to all critical areas.

C35 AdvancedLine Washdown Checkweigher for Precision and Versatility

Built for harsh environments, the C35 delivers precise weighing results on a stable weighing platform resistant to high-pressure washdown and most caustic detergents. The system frame is designed according to hygienic principles, with easy access for cleaning and sloped surfaces to discourage liquid collection. The system supports speeds of up to 250 packs per minute and a weighing range from 25 g to 7 kg.

Integrated Product Data Check for Label Accuracy

Mettler-Toledo’s Product Data Check verifies content of product labelling as well as the print quality of the label, helping to prevent mislabelling errors occurring during product changeovers. The new vision inspection component can be added to an existing checkweigher or combination inspection system. There are two configurations available, depending on the product shape. For oriented products, manufacturers can have up to three cameras to verify product data on the front, back and top of a product. Whereas for round products, the Product Data Check 360 serves as an effective add-on for any product inspection system. The housing mounts directly to a Checkweigher system or equipment and has a small footprint to save space. The housing is IP65 rated for wet cleaning environments and has sloped surfaces supporting hygienic design principles.

To learn more about Mettler-Toledo’s Virtual Exhibition Hall and to see an overview of the live presentations programme, visit: mtpi.vfairs.com.

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