The Ishida stand at this year’s PPMA Show 2024 in Nec, Birmingham, U.K., will highlight how the company’s wide range of automation solutions helps to maximize throughput and operational efficiencies while at the same time enhancing product and pack quality and ensuring high levels of food safety.

In addition to the recently released IX-PD X-ray inspection system and the highly regarded QX-500 tray sealer, Ishida’s exhibits feature the top-of-the-line CCW-AS multihead weigher and the distinctive Fresh Food Weigher (FFW), which showcase the enormous adaptability of the company’s weigher ranges.

“With markets remaining competitive and manufacturers having to deal with legislative requirements, stringent retailer standards, and changing consumer demands, the need for packaging equipment solutions that get things right first time has never been greater. Our PPMA stand will highlight our diverse capabilities across all areas of weighing, packing, and quality control, and our experts will be on hand to discuss specific automation requirements as well as how our equipment can be integrated to deliver ‘wall-to-wall’ solutions,” Paul Hitchin, Ishida’s General Sales Manager for the UK, mentioned.

The CCW-AS multihead weigher family, which was recently introduced, enables manufacturers to maintain nearly 100% weighing accuracy and consistency while achieving the highest weighing speeds. Strong, incredibly responsive radial feeders, such as those in the CCW-AS line, offer greater conveying power than traditional feeders, improving speed and accuracy, decreasing product giveaways, and contributing to higher production and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) levels. In addition to significantly lowering noise levels, it offers a 20% reduction in energy consumption when compared to earlier models.

“The top-of-the-range Ishida IX-PD X-ray inspection system incorporates new sensor and image processing technology to achieve the highest level of detection sensitivity and deliver effective food safety and quality monitoring. It can identify both low-density and very small-size foreign bodies, such as bones in fish fillets and stainless steel wires, with excellent accuracy, while enabling manufacturers to maintain high productivity rates. The new model is also able to reliably detect foreign bodies in applications where products are overlapping or standing up in a pack. The IX-PD has demonstrated in tests near 100% detection rates for bones in chicken, diced meat, and sausages. This ability to accurately recognize the difference between food and foreign bodies reduces false detections and enables companies to maintain stringent quality control procedures without compromising throughput,” a recent press release reveals.

The Ishida QX-500 tray sealer makes its debut at the PPMA Show following its success at last year’s PPMA Awards, where it won the Innovative Packaging Machinery category.

The QX-500 delivers a 66% increase in cycle speed, a 44% reduction in weight, a 46% reduction in size, and a 50% reduction in energy consumption.

The machine’s sustainable design also includes the introduction of highly efficient servo motor technology which minimizes energy consumption and cost of operation.

In addition, a strong focus on the thermo-performance of the tool has removed the need for water cooling and thus the need for a water chiller.

Equally important, the tray sealer ensures consistently high-quality seals, contributes to the reduction of food- and packaging waste, and offers a major increase in packing line productivity.

The 6-head Ishida R2-106 FFW has been specifically designed for the accurate weighing of sticky and bruise-sensitive fresh products such as fresh and marinated meat, poultry, seafood, cut fruit, cheese, and ready meals.

The FFW features belt feeders and anti-stick hoppers with scraper gates that prevent the build-up of sticky products. Despite its utilization for challenging products, product giveaway is less than 1% of pack weight and labor costs can be reduced by typically three operators per shift. The FFW’s compact dimensions also make it ideal for factories with space and height restrictions.