How a European Butter Producer Improved Food Safety and Reduced Product Giveaway with Fanchi-tech's Aluminum Foil Ferrous Metal Detector & Checkweigher

Industry

Dairy Industry

Application

250g & 500g Aluminum Foil Wrapped Butter Blocks

Equipment

Fanchi-tech Combined Ferrous Metal Detector & Dynamic Checkweigher

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Project Background

In early 2025, a leading dairy manufacturer in Northern Europe contacted Shanghai Fanchi-tech Machinery Co., Ltd. to upgrade the final inspection stage of its butter production line.

The customer produces more than 42 million butter blocks annually, supplying supermarket private labels and well-known dairy brands across Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Scandinavia.

Their primary products include:

• Salted Butter (250 g)
• Unsalted Butter (250 g)
• Premium Butter (500 g)
• Organic Butter
• Grass-fed Butter

All products are wrapped in aluminum foil before entering the secondary packaging line.

The production line operates continuously for 20 hours per day, with an average throughput of 180–220 butter blocks per minute.

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Customer's Initial Production Process

Before contacting Fanchi-tech, the customer used two separate inspection systems.

Production Flow:

Butter Forming

↓

Foil Wrapping

↓

Coding

↓

Ferrous Metal Detector

↓

Dynamic Checkweigher

↓

Manual Inspection

↓

Cartoning

↓

Palletizing

Although functional, this layout created several operational challenges.

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Problems the Customer Wanted to Solve

1. Production Line Occupied Too Much Space

The original inspection area required over 4.8 meters of conveyor length.

As production capacity increased, the customer planned to install another packaging line but lacked sufficient floor space.

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2. Multiple Control Systems Increased Maintenance

Two independent inspection machines meant:

• Two HMIs
• Two PLC systems
• Two electrical cabinets
• Separate maintenance schedules
• Additional spare parts inventory

The engineering department estimated that annual maintenance costs exceeded €12,000.

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3. Product Giveaway Was Increasing

Butter is a high-value dairy product.

To avoid underweight packages, operators intentionally overfilled each butter block by approximately 3–5 grams.

For an annual production volume of over 42 million units, this resulted in a significant amount of unnecessary product giveaway and increased raw material costs.

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4. Retail Customers Tightened Food Safety Requirements

Major supermarket chains requested:

• 100% finished product inspection
• Automatic reject verification
• Inspection data traceability
• Stable weight control
• HACCP compliance
• BRCGS audit documentation

The customer needed an integrated inspection system capable of meeting these requirements.

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Why Aluminum Foil Packaging Is Challenging

Unlike plastic packaging, aluminum foil generates a strong electromagnetic signal.

A conventional balanced-coil metal detector cannot reliably distinguish between the packaging material and metallic contaminants.

For this reason, the customer required a dedicated Ferrous Metal Detector, specifically designed for aluminum foil wrapped dairy products.

This technology focuses on detecting ferrous contamination, which represents one of the most common metal hazards originating from worn processing equipment, damaged bearings, broken blades, screws, or machine components.

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Fanchi-tech Solution

After reviewing the customer's production layout, product dimensions, packaging material, conveyor speed, and inspection requirements, Fanchi-tech recommended an integrated inspection solution.

The system combines:

• Ferrous Metal Detection
• Dynamic Checkweighing
• Automatic Reject
• Centralized Touchscreen Control

within one compact machine.

Compared with the customer's previous layout, the integrated design reduced inspection line length by approximately 35%.

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Inspection Process

Step 1 — Ferrous Metal Inspection

Each foil-wrapped butter block passes through the ferrous metal detector immediately after the wrapping process.

The detector identifies contamination such as:

• Carbon steel fragments
• Broken knife pieces
• Worn gears
• Machine wear particles
• Iron wire
• Steel shavings

If contamination is detected, the product is automatically diverted into the reject bin without interrupting production.

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Step 2 — Dynamic Weight Verification

Immediately after metal detection, the butter block enters the high-precision checkweigher.

Each package is weighed individually.

Inspection limits are configured for each product recipe.

For example:

250 g Butter

Acceptable Range:

249.5 g – 250.8 g

500 g Butter

Acceptable Range:

499.3 g – 501.0 g

Products outside tolerance are rejected automatically.

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Recipe Management

Because the factory produces multiple butter formats every day, rapid product changeover is essential.

Operators simply select the required recipe on the touchscreen.

The system automatically loads:

• Detection sensitivity
• Conveyor speed
• Weight limits
• Reject timing
• Product statistics

Recipe changeover requires less than 30 seconds.

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Production Results After Installation

After three months of operation, the customer evaluated the performance of the new system.

Key improvements included:

• Inspection area reduced by 35%
• One operator eliminated from the inspection station
• Approximately 18% lower maintenance workload
• More consistent package weight
• Reduced butter giveaway
• Simplified operator training
• Improved production line stability
• Enhanced compliance with retailer audit requirements

The customer also reported smoother line operation due to the integration of metal detection and weight inspection into a single synchronized system.

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Why Dairy Manufacturers Choose Fanchi-tech

For aluminum foil wrapped dairy products, manufacturers require more than basic metal detection. They need a complete inline quality assurance solution that combines contamination inspection, weight verification, automatic rejection, and production data management.

Fanchi-tech's integrated Ferrous Metal Detector & Checkweigher helps dairy producers reduce equipment footprint, improve operational efficiency, and strengthen food safety compliance—all while maintaining high-speed production.

Contact Us

Shanghai Fanchi-tech Machinery Co., Ltd.

Contact:** Kerry

Email: kerry@fanchitech.net

Mobile / WhatsApp: +86 13917555254

Website: www.fanchitech.net

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@fanchitech3323?si=gyh-f9JCbjkJ3tEu