Precision, safety and security

Bakers weigh out their raw materials by the shovelful – that may have been true in earlier centuries, but nowadays surveillance authorities and raw materials prices both equally ensure that weighing, monitoring and subsequent analyses accompany the entire production process.

The technology needed for this is a science in its own right, for which Minebea Intec is a specialist. The company manufactures inspection technology, weighing technology and industrial weighing equipment – at three locations in Germany alone: Hamburg, Bovenden and Aachen.

From industrial weighing machines, dynamic check-weighing devices and weigh-cells to metal detectors and X-ray inspection equipment – the areas in which Minebea Intec technology can be used range from raw materials silo to finished goods packing.

Tailor-made software solutions are another partopment, for example, acquires and records data from devices and systems along the whole production line. Which systems and equipment this involves makes no difference: whether they are Minebea Intec industrial weighing machines, X-ray inspection systems, check-weighing equipment or third-party solutions – all the devices are integrated via Ethernet and their measurement data is automatically transferred to the database. This enables not only comprehensive supervision, but also reporting in accordance with the German Prepackaging Ordinance, HACCP and the well-known food standards IFS and BRC. It simplifies the provision of proof, e.g. for audits, and enables precision procedures during product recalls.

Minebea Intec’s weighing technology division is located in Hamburg. The portfolio includes vehicle, silo and container weighing devices, and it also supplies various production process weighing technologies. The latest development in process container weighing for the food and pharmaceutical sector is the recently introduced weighing module called Novego, which is hygienically safe in accordance with EHEDG criteria (European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group).

++ Dymond Serie X-ray inspection devices reliably detect glass, stone, metal or plastic foreign bodies. They are also suitable for monitoring filling levels and for completeness checking

Developments are also constantly taking place in relation to check-weighing machines, whether dynamic or static, i.e. in conjunction with an employee who removes the product that is to be weighed from the stream on the line and checks it. For example, a new check-weighing device will come onto the market this year that will be customizable depending on the application’s requirements.

The weighing systems segment is complemented by metering and recipe systems – here again the solutions ranging from manual to fully automatic. A high-end solution in this

Minebea Intec

Minebea Intec is a company with international operations and three locations in Germany alone. The headquarters is situated in Hamburg, where part of the weighing technology is also produced. The company manufactures industrial weighing machines in Bovenden, Lower Saxony, and the majority of the inspection technology is made in Aachen. Minebea Intec is part of the globally active MinebeaMitsumi Inc. group. The parent company fabricates ball-bearings, motors and electronic components such as sensors and antennas, weighing and inspection technology in Asia, North America and Europe, and is also working on a new segment with IoT (Internet of Things) solutions. The Tokyo-based group employs a workforce of more than 78,000 staff worldwide, and reported consolidated net sales equivalent to EUR 6.7 billion for the 2017 financial year. www.minebea-intec.com +++ area is a freely programmable weight controller that controls up to four weighing machines and regulates the metering of raw materials via various interfaces, e.g. Ethernet TCP/IP, ModBus TCP, Profibus DP, DeviceNet, ProfiNet, Ethernet/IP and USB. It includes auxiliary functions, documentation and analysis.

++ Check-weighing dough pieces taken directly from the production process helps to allow a fast response to discrepancies. Simultaneously, the data go directly from a tablet and weighing system into the database for documentation and analysis

The portfolio’s second big field that is of interest to bakery businesses is fabricated in Aachen. Examples of products reliably inspected by Minebea Intec’s inspection systems –from metal detectors to X-ray inspection systems – include bulk materials and packaged foodstuffs. +++