‘Fortress detectors are ‘Fort Knox’ of inspection world’
Fortress Technology has installed its fifth Phantom pipeline metal detector at Shoda Sauces in Abertillery, Wales, the first machine was purchased in 2004.
Shoda Sauces said it invested in the system due to growth and unreliability of existing equipment.
Gareth Law, engineering manager at Shoda Sauces, said since it started working with Fortress 11 years ago it has had zero incidents with metal.
“Fortress metal detectors are like the ‘Fort Knox’ of the inspection world - nothing gets past them; they are completely failsafe,” he said.
“No matter where you fit in the food supply chain, you have to supply safe food, and metal detectors are crucial in providing that assurance. We cannot afford to be without them.”
Japanese-owned Shoda Sauces manufactures oriental sauces, from soy, oyster and hoisin, to blackbean, yellowbean and chilli sauces.
Salt content of some sauces could compromise sensitivity, said Kevin Shackell, head of UK sales at Fortress.
“Soy sauces generate what we call product signal, which can trigger a false reject. By essentially filtering out the external ‘noise’, our FM software boosts sensitivity by up to 40% when inspecting conductive products,” he said.
The system will screen liquids as they are piped into 1000ltr IBCs (Intermediate Bulk Containers), pallecons, 12.5ltr and 2.5ltr jerry cans and 5kg buckets in the company’s ‘vat room’.
Shoda’s ‘vat room’ processes either one batch of 3.5 tonnes of sauce per day, or several smaller batches of 550kg with up to three product changeovers per day.
Line speeds are dependent on viscosity, but typical throughput is around one litre every 25 seconds.
Shoda Foods also has a sauce sachet operation and the firm is planning to upgrade to conveyor-style Fortress systems as current machines are nearing end of life and further development will include a bottling facility to expand in the market.
