Increasing production volumes without compromising quality

They are almost invisible to the naked eye: tiny crumbs and particles from the packaged products that land on the tray rim instead of inside the tray during filling. Contaminants such as these are difficult to avoid but must be detected reliably. Even the smallest contamination can cause leaks that may only become apparent during storage or at the consumer’s home through faster spoilage. A perfect seal is therefore essential before a ham specialty leaves the factory. This is a demanding task, especially at a throughput of 140 packs per minute.

Reliable detection of the smallest defects

To maintain the highest quality standards even at large production volumes, Salaisons Celtiques required a powerful vision inspection solution. It needed to reliably detect even the smallest sealing defects and contaminants, including those that are almost transparent, such as melted fat. Only then can packages with compromised seals be identified and rejected within seconds. Manual inspections previously used for certain products, such as bacon pieces, were becoming increasingly ineffective and therefore needed to be significantly reduced.

Compatible, integrable and robust

Another challenge was that ham products are packaged differently depending on the brand, including transparent and recycled films. These visual differences posed an additional challenge and required a vision system capable of delivering reliable inspection results across all packaging variants. In addition, the inspection solution had to be compatible with existing equipment and, due to limited space, integrated directly into the thermoforming machines. For Salaisons Celtiques, one thing was clear: investments in production must be robust, durable, and low-maintenance.

Long-term partner Bizerba

Bizerba products have been in use at Salaisons Celtiques for more than 20 years. In addition to the high technological quality, the meat and sausage specialists particularly value the durability and sustainability of the solutions, the comprehensive service, and the outstanding performance of the industrial vision systems. Therefore, Salaisons Celtiques once again chose Bizerba for its new vision systems.

By integrating the vision systems, Salaisons Celtiques strengthened its quality control processes and fully automated its packaging operations. More precise seal inspection reduced deviations and noticeably lowered the number of customer complaints. At the same time, the packaging robot was optimized, resulting in higher productivity.

Today, the vision system reliably detects and rejects packages with contaminated seals before they leave the production line. This helps Intermarché guarantee the highest freshness standards for its products while safeguarding consumer trust and brand reputation. The return on investment for the solution is estimated at 18 to 24 months.