Mettler-Toledo Unveils Enhanced ProdX Data Management Software for Food Manufacturers
Mettler-Toledo Product Inspection has released the latest edition of ProdX, their comprehensive data management software. ProdX 2.6 is intended for food makers to increase data handling, quality control, and operational efficiency in the food business.
The primary goal of the new software additions to ProdX 2.6 was Mettler-Toledo’s dedication to satisfying the high demands of food manufacturers looking for comprehensive, efficient, and data-driven solutions.
“Positioned as a cornerstone of quality control and data management in food production, ProdX 2.6 seamlessly integrates with Mettler-Toledo product inspection equipment – x-ray inspection, metal detection, checkweighing, and vision inspection – facilitating the secure collection and management of critical inspection data,” according to a recent press release.
With a high degree of accessibility and automation, the update permits users to monitor reject data, contamination incidents, and report generation. ProdX 2.6 directly tackles the importance of efficiency and precision in sectors like food manufacturing. Manufacturers can fulfill the highest quality requirements and optimize production line performance by having instant access to data and making well-informed decisions.
Improving Data Management for Food Manufacturers
Because ProdX collects and secures inspection data from Product Inspection devices in an efficient manner, it is essential to the food production industry. It serves as a Safe Haven, preserving this important information on an impenetrable central server and providing the option to create automated or on-demand reports.
With the newly updated ProdX 2.6, Mettler-Toledo meets customer requirements better by offering several key additional benefits, including:
– Optimised Web Dashboard – Data at Your Fingertips: In the latest update, ProdX 2.6 now features an optimized web dashboard. This advanced web-based interface offers users the ability to access and monitor their data on smart devices like tablets and smartphones, eliminating the need to install additional software applications. Users can effortlessly review critical information, such as reject statistics and contamination events, and generate reports by simply accessing the dashboard via a web browser. This update opens new avenues for data accessibility, making it available to anyone connected to the network, whether wirelessly or through a cable connection. Users with VPN access can also conveniently view data through their web browser;
– Streamlined User Experience – Logging into Inspection Equipment: The updated software also simplifies the user experience by enabling workers to use their ProdX login credentials to access Mettler-Toledo product inspection equipment. This integration enhances operational efficiency and offers a seamless transition between tasks, promoting ease of use;
– Automated Reporting – Valuable Insights Readily Available: Another significant improvement to ProdX 2.6 is its capability to automate the generation of final evaluations and summary reports. This advancement streamlines reporting processes, allowing users to trigger final evaluations at the end of product runs, shifts, or days automatically. Additionally, users can program automated reports in various formats and delivery methods for daily, weekly, and monthly summaries. By automating these processes, users gain valuable insights by easily comparing runs, shifts, and specific time frames, identifying opportunities for improvement;
– Enhanced Changeover – Flexibility and Improved Sustainability: The new software also provides food manufacturers with increased flexibility and efficiency during product changeovers. Manufacturers can now switch over their product inspection systems simultaneously or selectively, either from a master device or remotely. This feature is particularly valuable in industries with extended manufacturing processes, such as chocolate production, where batch changeovers can occur while products move along the production line.
This improved functionality for product changes over time decreases product waste and cuts down on downtime, which helps with cost- and sustainability savings. Additionally, by lowering daily paper usage, ProdX’s paperless solution enables manufacturers to make a positive impact on environmental sustainability.
“ProdX 2.6 represents a leap forward in manufacturing productivity. By simplifying and automating documentation and reporting processes, this new version eliminates the arduous task of manual data compilation that manufacturers once grappled with. Administrative productivity receives a substantial boost, freeing up valuable time and resources that can now be channeled into more strategic and value-added activities. These combined enhancements, alongside the sustainability improvements ProdX™ 2.6 offers, are poised to greatly improve the way food manufacturers operate, enhancing productivity, efficiency, and sustainability,” Peter Spring, ProdX Product Manager at Mettler-Toledo, said.
Other key updates to the software include:
– Product Validation Capability – Security and Compliance: For x-ray inspection systems, ProdX 2.6 introduces a product validation capability, a crucial feature for maintaining product setting integrity. This capability provides a visual indicator to confirm that the system is inspecting a product using validated setting parameters. In case any parameters are altered, the login used and the changes made are recorded. Additionally, the x-ray system’s product parameters are now stored in ProdX for remote viewing, regardless of whether these parameters can be edited remotely;
– Open Platform Communication Unified Architecture (OPC UA) Weighing Technology Integration – Seamless Connectivity: ProdX™ now also complies with the Open Platform Communication Foundation’s weighing technology companion specification, facilitating effortless integration with checkweighers within this standard. This integration not only streamlines the connection between ProdX and third-party checkweighers, but also allows for seamless data exchange, enhancing overall operational efficiency and providing manufacturers with real-time insights critical for precision control and compliance.