Longhini Sausage Company has been producing Italian sausages and other specialty meat products for almost 70 years. To help ensure product quality and support their growing customer base, the sausage manufacturer installed two new Profile Advantage metal detectors from METTLER TOLEDO Safeline.
Challenging Applications
The company decided to automate inspection back in 2015 after seeing other companies experience metal contamination issues that were preventable. A major challenge for Longhini is the inspection of meat products, as meat has natural variations in temperature and moisture. To overcome these challenges, Longhini was looking for an advanced metal detector capable of accurately inspecting products with variable characteristics. "After considering multiple suppliers and speaking with our sales rep, we decided to go with METTLER TOLEDO because they have great equipment as well as fantastic service and support", says Rich Longhini, President of Longhini.
Reliable Sensitivity and Versatile Systems
Instead of just complying with standards and requirements, Longhini wanted to go beyond standard baseline inspection by finding metal fragments far smaller than the industry requirement. The sensitivity and reliability of METTLER TOLEDO's Profile Advantage System was able to meet this requirement. In 2015, Longhini installed a semi-automated, stand-alone system on wheels that can be moved around their facility to inspect their products in cases off-line. Since the first Profile Advantage was selected to maximize versatility, it was decided to install a second Profile Advantage on wheels in 2019 to increase throughput. The second metal detector is rolled around and integrated with various lines throughout the facility to fully-automate inspection. While the new inline metal detector has the ability to inspect thermoformed packages that range in size from 6 oz to 1 lb (170 to 454g) and tray packs that range in size from 5 to 10 lb (2 to 5 kg), the first, off-line system now exclusively inspects cases between 5 and 40 lb (2 and 18kg) in size.
Minimized Downtime
Longhini is very satisfied with the performance of the two Profile Advantage Systems: "Overall, the dependability of our Profile Advantage systems is awesome. They haven't had any unplanned downtime at all and have been entirely maintenance free." Longhini's favorite Profile Advantage feature is the product clustering capability allowing them to run many similar products under the exact same setting. Thanks to the auto-set up routine, it is also easy to add totally new products.
"Longhini is known for producing the highest quality meat products on the market. Our METTLER TOLEDO metal detectors are essential for protecting our reputation", says David Kemp, CEO of Longhini.
