Greenyard Frozen Belgium in Westrozebeke, a leader in frozen fruits and vegetables, packages millions of products annually for both domestic and international markets.
Confronted with challenges relating to product overfilling and waste on their high-speed packaging lines, Greenyard partnered with Mettler-Toledo to implement intelligent dynamic checkweighers equipped with feedback control.
This innovation has significantly improved packaging accuracy, reduced product waste, and enhanced operational efficiency.
Tackling Overfilling and Product Waste
Greenyard’s packaging process involves bulk vegetables passing through metal detectors to inspect for metal contamination, followed by checkweighers that verify package weight before boxing.
Overfilling had become unmanageable, with the company adding an extra 40 grams per one-kilogram bag as a safety margin to avoid underfilling. However, this margin quickly accumulated to tons of wasted food annually. Manual adjustments proved inefficient and failed to maintain close adherence to target weights, prompting the need for a more precise, automated solution.
Every Gram Counts
The smart fill level adjustment feature on the C33 PlusLine checkweigher from Mettler-Toledo was piloted the previous year with promising results. The checkweighing system continuously monitors the average package weight and automatically adjusts the multi-head weigher’s fill margin from 40 grams to 10 grams per one-kilogram bag.
Following the successful pilot, Greenyard replaced four older checkweighers to integrate the smart fill level adjustment feature across multiple lines. By the following year, all six small packaging lines were equipped with this technology, supported by on-site assistance and operator training from Mettler-Toledo.
Automatic Adjustment of Filling Weight
This intelligent checkweighing system goes beyond measuring weight; it constantly monitors average package weights, and adapts to make real-time adjustments. This trims excess weight without risking underfill, maintaining weight closer to the desired target.
Dominiek Vierstraete, Technical Manager within Greenyard’s packaging department, shares: “We have used checkweighers and metal detection systems from Mettler-Toledo for many years. We initially tested the smart level fill adjustment feature on one of our newer checkweighers. The results were so convincing that we decided to replace four older devices and integrate this function across all packaging lines.”
Easy Deployment
Initial setup required manual input of target weight margins tailored to different product types, such as loose peas versus cauliflower pieces. Some coordination and testing were necessary to accommodate products with varying shapes and weights, and a visual interface allowed operators to monitor average weight trends in real time. Mettler-Toledo provided on-site support during start-up and initial configuration, as well as operator training to ensure smooth deployment.
Concrete Savings
The savings have been clear. On one of the lines, the overweight decreased from 0.69% to 0.14%. Vierstraete explains: “That may not seem like much but calculated annually over large volumes, it represents significant quantities of product no longer packaged unnecessarily. This benefits both cost and waste reduction.”
Key Results
- Overweight percentages significantly reduced from 0.69% to 0.14% on one line, and from 0.30% to 0.11% on another
- Estimated product savings of approximately 1.8 kilograms per minute at 60 packages per minute
- Considerable cost savings and waste reduction realised annually
- Improved process efficiency with less manual intervention
Find out more at: https://www.mt.com/