Borgesius Bakery Uses Its ‘Loaf’ With Fortress Twin-aperture Metal Detection Heads
For nearly 125 years, the Borgesius family and their workforce have made every effort to supply customers throughout Europe with the freshest, highest quality bread loaves.
With innovation and food safety remaining the cornerstone of the Dutch company’s heritage and customer commitment, Borgesius recently took delivery of a new twin-lane multi-aperture Stealth metal detector built in the UK by Fortress Technology.
Dutch manufacturer Jansen Control Systems supplied the customised installation, integrating the twin-aperture single metal detector with a new section of robust, easy to clean conveyor and two innovative reject systems, one for each lane. Incorporated with the bakery’s existing cooling tower, the entire footprint of the new inspection system measures less than 1.7 metres at its widest point and less than 5 metres in length.
Within 12-hours of installation, the bakery’s new Amsterdam factory was running at full capacity accurately inspecting 14,000 loaves per shift!
The twin-lane project came about after Borgesius, which already has 15 Fortress metal detectors installed in its six bakery facilities in the Netherlands, approached Jansen to discuss the feasibility of having a twin-lane conveyor with an individual reject system for each lane.
“Rather than having one metal detector head spanning both lanes, the bakery wanted to be able to measure if there was a particular metal contaminant issue in the individual line,” explains Jansen Control Systems Managing Director Gerard Schuurman.
He continues: “Being a bakery, metal detection sensitivity was also something that Borgesius didn’t want to compromise on. They requested a minimum of 1.8 mm ferrous, 2.8 mm non ferrous and 4.0 mm stainless steel, which the individual Fortress apertures easily accomplishes.”
Because each aperture measures just 200mm in height and 450mm wide, the bread loaves pass right through the centre point of the metal detector. This means the inspection system can cope better with orientation and product effect.
And because there’s a dedicated aperture for each lane, the range is more sensitive to smaller metal particles, detecting all metal types down 0.7 mm ferrous, 0.7 mm non ferrous and 1.4 mm stainless steel.
Fortress was the only company Gerard knew of that could provide a single unit with two in-built individual apertures within the same frame. Until now, factories wanting a multi-lane system to inspect food items had limited options, emphasises Fortress Technology’s European Sales Director Phil Brown.
“You could either install a much larger single aperture spanning all lanes, or insert standalone metal detectors between the conveyors. Neither option suited this specific application at the Borgesius bakery, as it would have meant a bulkier machine, multiple systems to maintain and a wider footprint, or conceding on metal detection sensitivity.”
“Logistically, having two metal detectors wouldn’t have been feasible as it would have prohibited us from running two conveyors so closely together,” points out Gerard.
To reduce product effect, the bread loaves, which are all baked on the premises, are inspected individually after rotating around the expansive cooling tower and before packaging.
Seamless, fully automated production and inspection process
Jansen, which makes approximately four-kilometres of conveyor belts every year, engineered a curved infeed conveyor to transport the bread in two lines, creating a fully automated process within the existing factory footprint. Gerard explains:
“Prior to this installation, operatives had to manually take the bread loaves from the cooling tower and load by hand onto a separate conveyor for inspection. And with just one metal detector to conduct the inspections, the process was slower, resulting in packing bottlenecks during busy production times.”
Having the twin lane system now gives Borgesius the capacity to inspect 3,600 loaves an hour.
In order for each inspection lane to run independently from each other as the two lines of bread pass through the two Fortress inspection chambers, Jansen designed a bespoke conveyor system that splits into two infeed lanes.
The two conveyor lanes widen incrementally to transport the loaves as they pass through the metal detector, coming back in again after inspection to a single conveyor that transports the bread to the packing zone. Not only does this maintain business continuity, it also allows the bakery to inspect different products within its range side by side.
If the metal detector identifies a contaminated loaf, the conveyor on that lane dips, dropping the bread loaf into an individual lockable BRC-approved reject bin for each lane.
“The ability to separate rejected product was a real deal breaker for Borgesius,” claims Gerard. “If there’s an issue on one line, the team can now quickly identify and address it, which helps to reduce product waste and false rejects.”
Commenting on the installation, which went live in March 2017, Plant Manager Mr. Boneschansker from Borgesius said: “The twin-lane metal detection technology enables us to maintain our European reputation for the highest quality bread and continue meeting the stringent retailer Codes of Practice.”
Although early days, the Borgesius Bakery, which was behind the revolutionary ‘bake’off’ bread concept, reports that was extremely impressed that entire system was up and running within 12-hours, causing minimal disruption to the business.
“Every day we look for ways to optimise our production capacity so that we can produce bread that is as fresh as possible. To keep pace with the growing number of supermarket and convenience store orders, we need an efficient automated inspection process. The twin-aperture metal detector from Fortress is integral to this effort and has already proven to reliable and easy to operate,” ends Mr. Boneschansker.
Fortress Technology
T+44 (0)1295 256266
E sales-uk@fortresstechnology.com
W www.fortresstechnology.co.uk
Fortress Technology
- 01295 256266
- sales-UK@fortresstechnology.com
- http://www.fortresstechnology.com
- Phantom Bldg, Beaumont Road, Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX16 1RH GB
About us
Fortress Technology began its humble beginnings in 1996 believing that through superior product design and engineering the production of higher quality equipment with better sensitivities could be achieved. The phenomenal market response to the Fortress Phantom line of metal detectors has validated that belief and the philosophy on which it is based… simple operation, outstanding reliability, and exceptional performance. Over the years, Fortress has blossomed into a global enterprise with main offices in Canada, the UK, and Brazil serving North America, Europe, and Latin America. Their valued representatives provide cost effective and customised inspection solutions to customers’ worldwide.
Where we supply to
Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, North America
Industries we supply to
Automation, Chemicals, Consultants, Components Electronics, Energy and Power, Food and Beverage, Glass Ceramics Cement, Metals and Minerals, OEM, Paper and Pulp, Pharmaceutical Cosmetics Toiletries, Plastics and Rubber, Recycling, Textiles, Tobacco, Water and Wastewater
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Episode 1: Food Safety Programs
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Episode 2: 'Inspecting' Metal Detector and X-Ray Technology
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Stealth Metal Detector - Acceptable Setup
