Müller Dairy in Market Drayton, Shropshire, has been in production since 1992. When it comes to producing quality dairy products to the highest standards Müller is a market leader.
Müller’s most popular product in the UK is the well known “Müller Corner” which is available in several different varieties, such as Fruit, Crunch and Bio Yogurt Corner. Müller manufacture to the very highest quality control and safety standards, they demand the same market leading technology from their equipment suppliers.The requirement was for an X-ray system that offered high performance, high accuracy detecting foreign objects with very low false reject rates, then check and reject incorrectly filled products – this they achieved with the OCS Checkweighers X-ray scanner.
To date 13 SC 5000 X-ray systems have been installed at the Müller Dairy in Market Drayton – with the commissioning of additional X-ray scanners in progress. The
X-ray scanner SC 5000 is a solution tailored to meet the specific requirements of Müller Dairy UK. The main reasons for this development can be found in the customer’s set of requirements. The wide yogurt trays required equally wide conveyor belts, which OCS Checkweighers implemented in the SC 5000. Another focus was on hygiene – OCS Checkweighers placed special emphasis on easy cleaning and tool free change of the belts and conveyor bodies which require routine cleaning.
Tailored software
In cooperation with Müller, OCS Checkweighers developed custom made software especially for the dairy industry. This software calculates and allows the above mentioned rotation of the layers of up to 15 degrees. But not only the software was specifically developed for the dairy industry, the whole design of the machines also complies with the special requirements of this industry sector for a dairy company, there is always a certain amount of humidity in the air. Therefore, the control cabinet is not cooled by ambient air but by an integrated heat exchanger. Among many others, this is one of the technical highlights.
Costs, benefits and highest quality requirements
Using the OCS Checkweighers X-ray scanner, Müller Dairy has been able to significantly improve the overall quality of their products and achieve the highest production quality standard as required by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). All of this ultimately ensures that the consumer receives products that are of the highest possible quality. Predefined test samples are used as a standard for all the scanners used in production. In the unlikely event that a scanner fails to find the test objects, all products produced since the last successful test are rechecked. “All results are documented and any contaminations are reported to our headquarters in Germany”, explains Kathy Davies QA, Müller Dairy UK.
“Even before the project started we required an inspection system specifically tailored to the needs of our industry with custom made software and a product handling optimized for Müller’s specific products. Implementing the OCS Checkweighers X-ray scanners also helped us to improve and optimize the internal line management”, explain Martyn Steadman and Alan Coles, X-ray project team at Müller Dairy UK. In spring 2010, the OCS Checkweighers X-ray scanners passed the last major challenge – the final quality audit – with flying colours.
OCS Checkweighers, Ltd.
31B Avenue One, Station Lane
Witney, Oxfordshire OX28 4XZ
United Kingdom
T +44.1993.701-970
F +44.1993.701-980
