Plan Automation Technology Blog

5 Reasons Your Business Should Switch to X-Ray Inspection

Posted by Mat Bedard on Mon, Aug 11, 2014 @ 11:08 AM

X Ray Inspection - Plan AutomationModern innovations in product inspection technology have essentially rendered manual inspection an impractical, unnecessary practice. The benefits of these newer solutions completely outweigh the labor costs of manual inspection.

As with many other manufacturing processes, automation for product inspection applications is no longer a huge, burdensome investment on businesses; it’s the most practical way for manufacturers and product distributors to ensure the safety of their goods, while still returning on investment costs in short time.

Before you can really grasp how automated X-ray inspection systems can wind up saving you money in the long run, and preserve your brand, it can help to fully understand how these innovative solutions work to deliver these benefits.

1.) Inspection Capabilities Beyond the Norm

Powerful X-ray inspection systems use focused X-ray beams to detect foreign bodies in products, far beyond the capabilities of manual inspections or traditional inspection technologies such as metal detectors; X-ray inspection technologies, 100% safe for any product, from pharmaceutical goods to organic meats, can detect contaminants with unsurpassed capabilities, and typically feature a <0.01% false reject rate.

Beyond contaminant detection, X-ray inspection tools can detect surface, weight and size irregularities in products of under 5% the normal state (minute changes in weight or shape less than 1% the normal weight).

By using gray-scale imaging and digital analytics, X-ray inspection tools can pick up on contaminants and malformed products with much more reliability than the human eye.

2.) Protection for Your Products and Your Brand

Innovative X-Ray inspection technologies have made it possible for manufacturers and product distributors to better guard their brand and uphold the standard exceptional quality of their product.

Manufacturers in any industry can integrate X-ray inspection tools to significantly limit the risks of embarrassing and costly recalls, wide distribution of defective products and customer complaint. These systems ensure the safety of your products by unifying quality assurance in one fully automated process; X-ray detectors can detect virtually any irregularity in a line’s products, including:

  • Improper fill levels
  • Missing promotional material, insert or lids
  • Sealing materials and integrity of plastic wrapping
  • Hollow air pockets in products such as meat and cheese
  • Incorrectly mixed products within packaging

3.) Labor and Quality Control Savings

Those without high-powered X-ray inspection technologies, such as those built by Eagle PI, installed in their production line also miss out on the great potential for financial and labor savings that come with these solutions.

X-ray inspection systems generate these savings (and return on their own investment costs) by allowing manufacturers to assess irregularities in products immediately, and by improving the overall efficiency of a facility’s product quality control. Automating safety and quality control allow labor to be better allocated elsewhere, where more necessary; this optimizes both company and worker time expense… meaning immediate savings in efficiency.

4.) Easy Integration and Operating Process

Part of why so many manufacturers today are embracing of innovative X-ray solutions is that they are incredibly simple to operate, and can be painlessly integrated with existing production lines and systems.

You won’t have to tear apart your existing production line to include an X-ray inspection system; they’re actually very accommodating, and can be integrated at any point in a manufacturing process. Additionally, you don’t need to be a professionally trained X-ray specialist to handle these technologies. Digital user interfaces make them incredibly easy to use, and the extent to which these systems automate contaminant reporting greatly simplify the entire inspection process.

Easy to use, highly accurate and carrying significant potential for financial and expense savings, integrating these systems is the most practical way for manufacturers to improve efficiency throughout their inspection process.

5.) Versatility Without Limitation

A final reason you should consider X-ray inspection technologies for your business deals with the boundless versatility these innovative systems work with. For one, they can deliver near-flawless product inspection and quality assurance results in virtually any industry, be it dairy, beverage, meat, seafood, pharmaceuticals, liquid or dry goods, etc.

However, perhaps what sets X-ray inspection technologies aside from other solutions is their versatility at any point of a production line. These systems can perform at peak ability no matter where they are placed along the production line, or at what stage the products are in when they are analyzed. These solutions can inspect:

  • Product in any states without any false rejects: Hot, cold, frozen and semi-frozen
  • Raw ingredients, prior to processing
  • Processed products
  • Products during processing
  • Loose and bulk products
  • Products before or after packaging
  • Products after sealing
  • Final closed products, even those in sealed cases and containers

At each of these levels, X-ray inspection systems can perform with the same accuracy and reliability as at any other point. At the end of the day, reaping the benefits of today’s X-ray inspection systems just makes sense in any industry. The rewards are too great to be lessened by an investment cost that the equipment itself pays back in months’ time.

To learn more about high-powered X-ray inspection automation, and what unique benefits they can bring to your business, contact us right away.

How Safe is X Ray Inspection of Food - Plan Automation

Topics: X-Ray Inspection, X Ray Inspection for Food, X Ray Inspection Technology, Food Product Inspection