Kuchenmeister GmbH has been producing baked goods and confectionery specialities for over 130 years. The medium-sized, family-owned company with its headquarters in Sorest is the market leader for ready-to-serve cakes in Germany, as well as the international market leader for the German specialities, Baumkuchen and Christmas Stollen. For more than 20 years, the industrial bakery has relied on product inspection solutions from METTLER TOLEDO.
Kuchenmeister produce more than 90,000 tonnes of cakes a year, which are distributed worldwide both under the company’s own brand ‘Kuchenmeister’ as well as food retailer brands.
Kuchenmeister utilises a range of METTLER TOLEDO product inspection equipment, including checkweighers, metal detectors and x-ray inspection systems to detect foreign body contamination and product conformity, along the entire production line from incoming goods through processing to checking packaged products.
Long-Established Single-Source Strategy
Kuchenmeister has been putting its trust in METTLER TOLEDO’s production inspection technology for more than two decades. “Our philosophy is to rely on a single source strategy,” says Thomas Engel, Head of Quality Management at Kuchenmeister. “We have one contact person for our product inspection technology and can coordinate everything, be it service and maintenance appointments, or modernisation measures via that one contact person.”
A Reputation for Reliable Product Inspection Equipment
Thomas Engel has been impressed by the longevity and reliability of the product inspection equipment: “The oldest METTLER TOLEDO product inspection device that we use, is a dynamic checkweigher, which has been running for 20 years. However, our goal is not to achieve the record for age or endurance. So far, we have had no reason to replace the device at this station. Normally, we will replace and modernise our inventory of inspection equipment whenever it requires additional functionality or when an increase of the overall equipment effectiveness of the line is required,” says Engel.
Advance Technology
20 years of collaboration has given Kuchenmeister a comprehensive overview of the advances and developments in product inspection technology over the past two decades.
“Much has happened, not only in terms of detection accuracy. This is reflected, for example, in the higher energy yield of today’s x-ray generators, the increasingly optimised hygienic design and their compact construction and the 5-year warranty that METTLER TOLEDO gives on new x-ray generators, “summarisesThomas Engel “We recently placed a new combination device, consisting of a dynamic checkweigher and a metal detector, in the packaging line for children’s croissants. With this, we combine foreign body detection and weight checking in one compact, space saving device. I believe we have found an optimal solution on this line with METTLER TOLEDO and I could even extend the list to include all the advancements which have come about over the past twenty years,” concludes Thomas Engel.
