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The diverse chocolate bars produced by Ritter Sport have been top sellers in candy stores for decades. The cult brand is well recognized in Germany where it enjoys a flawless reputation amongst its consumers. To ensure product quality and protect the reputation of the business, the company uses cutting-edge technologies to monitor its production processes. METTLER TOLEDO Safeline Profile R-Series metal detectors play a key role in the company’s strict quality program.
“We’ve been using Safeline metal detection technology here in Ritter Sport for decades to ensure our chocolates are free from metal contaminants” explains Markus Schimpf, Shift Production Supervisor for the company.
Ritter Sport uses five high-performance Profile R-series metal detection systems at its plant in Waldenbuch to reliably detect metal contaminants and remove defective products from the manufacturing process.
The metal detection systems are located shortly before the packaging line. In order to meet compliance needs and ensure detection performance levels are maintained, routine performance checks are conducted hourly to verify the equipment continues to perform as it should.
Customized settings for highest detection accuracy
After conching, the chocolate is poured into molds and cooled. The unwrapped bars are then fed through the metal detectors on wide conveyor belts.
As the shape, size and location of the metal contaminants can vary greatly, Ritter Sport opted to use Profile systems as they are particularly sensitive and are able to detect the smallest metal contaminants including ferrous, non-ferrous and even difficult to detect stainless steel, regardless of their shape.
Seamless Integration
The metal detectors are tailored to match the dimensions of the production lines to allow the passage of the flat bars through the detector. For maximum flexibility, the operating frequency of the devices can be individually configured to suit the specific product to be inspected.