Food & Beverage

Checking of incoming materials
Step 1 in production quality control: Ensure that all the materials that will be used in the production process are exactly as ordered. If not, the integrity of the entire manufacturing process is at risk before it begins, and the quality of the end product is already jeopardised. Minebea Intec has everything needed to check incoming goods for weight content – efficiently, reliably and fully compliant with the food industry’s strict hygiene standards.

Automated equipment for the production process
Automation of processes in the food and beverage production industry is continually increasing. Weighing and batching operations are critically important in this industry, as central production processes or as quality control measures. Minebea Intec’s fully automated weighing and batching solutions are designed to be seamlessly integrated into modern production processes, with the speed required to avoid slowing down the whole operation. They are also designed to meet the highest hygiene standards – for example, by being easily cleanable. And, of course, they offer the precision and reliability required to ensure the quality of the product and the robustness and cost-effectiveness of the manufacturing process.

Manually operated equipment for the production process
Despite the increasing automation of food and beverage production processes, a certain amount of manual measuring and weighing of materials is often required – for example, in conducting spot checks of previously measured or mixed ingredients. In common with automated measuring and weighing equipment, manually operated equipment must be reliable, precise, fast and hygienic, but it should also offer one further key characteristic: ease of use. Minebea Intec’s manual weighing and measuring solutions have been developed with the varying needs and strengths of individual workers, and the reality of ever-changing workforces, at their heart – making it possible to have just as much confidence in manual processes as in automated ones.

Weighing and checking during the packing stage
Packaging of the final product is arguably more important, and also more demanding, in the food and beverage production industry than in any other. Consumers must be convinced, in large part by the packaging, that the product meets their expectations in relation to factors such as quality, freshness and safety. This is also often the last point at which contamination can enter the product. And, of course, the amount of product placed in individual packages must be reliably measured, and amounts must often be checked separately for quality control purposes. Minebea Intec’s numerous weighing, detection and inspection solutions have been optimised to meet the needs of food and beverage producers in their packaging

Final checking before delivery
Once food and beverage products have been packaged or bottled, they can be stored until required and then transferred to Goods Out for delivery to customers. Here, reliable control and documentation of the product transfer is important for commercial and risk-avoidance reasons. Completeness of orders must be confirmed, and over-delivery of product should also be avoided – checks which may be especially important where secondary packaging (e.g. in cartons for shipping) is additionally required. Checkweighing of orders can be very useful in this regard, especially where multiple product types or package sizes are combined in a single delivery. In some cases, it is most efficient to weigh an entire delivery truck, before and after loading with collected goods, so appropriately sized, very robust truck scales may be called for. Minebea Intec’s weighing and counting solutions can meet the most demanding of such needs, efficiently and reliably.