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X-ray technology for the tracking of meat & sausage products
FF Frischfleisch AG and Sempione AG are two companies in Switzerland that have been working together for years with great dedication, passion, and expertise in meat processing. Their common goal is to ensure the best quality of their products.
FF Frischfleisch AG is one of the five largest meat processing companies in Switzerland. For the more than 300 employees, customer satisfaction, quality, and efficiency are top priorities. Other important components of the company's strategy are initiative and innovation. This means being sensitive to what is happening in the market and sensibly developing what the market demands. Thanks to continuous renewal and expansion, FF Frischfleisch AG celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015. An outstanding achievement in the meat industry and in a fast-paced time.
Between 1880 and today, Sempione AG has developed from a village butcher to a large company. The production facilities have been repeatedly adapted to the latest conditions and technological insights. A few years ago, Sempione AG transferred the slaughtering on behalf of Frischfleisch AG in Sursee. Sempione AG focuses exclusively on the demanding processing of meat. Both companies share a passion for technological innovations to achieve the highest quality standards with certifications such as IFS and FSSC22000.
The problem: Complaints are difficult to track.
FF Frischfleisch AG was looking for a solution that allows a claimed product to be traced 100 percent. For this, a complete documentation of the production in the system is necessary. X-ray devices that centrally store every product image (with and without contamination) can meet this requirement and thus ensure continuous traceability of meat and sausage products in the event of complaints.
The solution: Save X-rays with production number in the system.
Sesotec was able to develop a solution on-site in collaboration with the company K undert, the Swiss distribution partner. For the inspection of packaged products in the end-of-line inspection, RAYCON EX1 foreign body detection systems with integrated pusher and Insight.Net software were delivered. It was necessary to process extremely large amounts of data to save each individual product image, and collaboration with the company Videojet was required, which integrated the printers into the line after the X-ray devices. The printers mark the packages with line number, date, and time. The challenge here was that the X-ray device generates this number, saves the product image under it, and passes the information to the Videojet printer so that it prints the identical number on the package. The images are automatically deleted after a certain time depending on the best-before date (BBD) or overwritten by new images.
Thanks to state-of-the-art X-ray technology and thanks to the adjustment of device settings and the Insight.NET software by the Sesotec development team, continuous traceability of the products was achievable. The requirements for detection accuracy of FE and V2A with 0.8mm and glass with 2.0mm could be immediately met. The hygienic design rounded off the advantages of the X-ray devices "Made in Germany".
The customer benefit: Unique, seamless traceability and security in the event of a complaint.
The project, in which all parties focused on achieving the best quality of a final product, was a complete success. FF Frischfleisch AG and Sempione AG consulted, exchanged ideas, and worked together with Sesotec and Videojet to develop an optimal solution.
The result: professional production with the assurance of delivering flawless products to end customers is guaranteed, and - should a complaint arise - seamless traceability of the affected products is possible. For 2022/2023, Sempione AG plans to acquire five more RAYCON EX1 X-ray scanners. There is also talk of possibly replacing old devices from other manufacturers with new Sesotec technologies, such as metal detection with artificial intelligence.
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