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Tortilla inspection upgrade

In response to customer requirements, X-Ray inspection technology has been added to some of the packaging lines at this Minnesota producer of tortillas.

Catallia was among the very first to install the Sentinel Multiscan Metal Detector.
Catallia was among the very first to install the Sentinel Multiscan Metal Detector.

A leading producer of tortillas for quick-service restaurants and retailers alike, Catallia Mexican Foods of Eagan, MN, has relied on metal detection for product inspection purposes since it opened its doors in 2006. But in recent years the peculiarities that are inherent in tortilla production convinced management that it might be time to investigate X-Ray technology.

What peculiarities? For starters, it’s a warm, wet, salty environment. But when the production line needed to be stopped, the product temperature would dip, which in turn caused false rejects by the metal detector. An operator would have to adjust the equipment for rework and then adjust it back for normal production. Also problematic was that seemingly small changes to the product or the environment, like a folded-over tortilla, was causing false rejects on occasion.

On top of these production line challenges, major customers were requiring more sensitive detection capability, and they wanted the ability to detect non-metallic contaminants. Such expectations are not uncommon among today’s retailers, for whom brand protection standards are crucial.

So Catallia management looked into X-Ray technology and installed a solution from a low-cost provider on one of its most demanding production lines. But within two years there were problems with the equipment, to the point that the true cost of owning and operating it made it less than satisfactory. “Sure, we got into X-Ray detection more or less on the cheap, but we quickly started wondering if it would have been better to stay with a top brand even if it meant paying more up front,” recalls Director of Operations Dan Gooch.

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