The types of inspection you need to include in the production management process
Customers naturally gravitate towards providers who they know will offer the quality they expect in their products. As manufacturers, it’s therefore in our best interest to implement robust approaches for quality control and assurance that guarantee a quality that meets (or even exceeds) consumer expectations.
While aiming to create and maintain quality in your output, inspection is essential. By utilising appropriate inspection into your production management processes, you eliminate the risk of contamination and error in your products. In many industries, particularly food and drink, incorporating inspection is a matter of compliance.
By inspecting your products at various stages during their processing, you unleash many benefits. Alongside meeting industry standards, you promote customer health by only selling safe and hygienic products. In the post-pandemic reality, this is likely to take new precedence. You also reduce waste by getting it right the first time, avoid costly product recalls and maintain a favourable reputation as a supplier of quality among your customers.
There are a few types of inspection that you need to embed across your production processes. This will give you multiple opportunities to catch any issues and ensure that every stage goes smoothly, with excellent, uncompromised output being the end result.
Below, we have listed the three types of inspection you need to include in your production management and how you effectively check your goods in each.
Pre-production
The first point at which you need to consider inspection is before you start the manufacturing process. By examining your starting resources before it goes through the production line, you ensure the quality of your starting materials and identify any problems that may emerge later.
You want to ensure you have what you need, at the quality you expect from your suppliers. If you are working with fresh produce, for example, you may be able to tell from early investigations whether it’s of an acceptable standard or if there are issues such as damage, deformities or decomposition.
Finding faults before processing enable your lines to run smoothly. Hard contaminants, like glass or stone, may damage your machinery and disrupt the line, resulting in unwelcome costs and lost time, but the reputational risk is far greater. Pre-production checks should seek to remove this risk and increase the chances of a perfect end outcome.
The forms of inspection you use in the pre-production stage will depend on the substances you are working with. Utilising a checkweigher is beneficial, as it allows you to check the weight of your goods against the set limits provided and ensures you have correct amounts at the start of your process.
You might also undertake manual inspection, such as visual checks. Cleaning will likely play a role here, too, to help you remove invisible contamination, such as pesticides and bacteria.
In-line
Next comes in-line inspection. This applies to checks that occur during production. You may even have a designated inspection stage as part of the process.
Your aim here is to ensure that no contamination has occurred during the handling stage (such as from user error or broken machinery), as well as anything that might have been missed in pre-production. This keeps the process running smoothly and allows you to address issues before completion. It’s also a good chance to implement more extensive checks using bespoke machinery.
There are many solutions that you embed into your existing lines that make inspection easy. These include checkweighers, metal detection and x-ray. The right one will depend on your unique situation, and you might even choose to incorporate more than one into your line, but it is essential to consider your requirements to identify the best solution.
Once you have selected your mode of inspection, you will want to find appropriate machinery that will fit into your lines. This includes compatibility with existing machines you have and installation to conveyor systems. This will facilitate inspection in becoming an integrated feature of your production process.
Final
Final inspection occurs once production is complete and you have the end product. Introducing checks at this point is essential to identify any flaws before it reaches the hands of your customers.
This type of inspection should act as a catch-all. Ideally, you will have caught any issues during the pre-production and in-line stages, but if anything has been missed, this is your last chance to see it. So, final inspection needs to be comprehensive.
As with in-line inspection, there are many solutions you may choose to use in this final step, and you need to find one that works for your products. Whichever you choose must address all the potential risks that may affect your output.
If a fault is detected in this stage, it means you may have to remove impacted items or even rerun the line. You will also need to identify the cause of the fault to prevent it from reoccurring.
Although this will likely be an unwanted obstacle for your productivity, it will enable you to avoid placing low-quality goods on the market. It prevents you from having to undergo product recalls if an issue is found too late. It also avoids the financial and reputational damage you might experience if a customer is harmed or raises a complaint against you after receiving a contaminated or below-standard product.
When should I use checkweigher, metal detection or x-ray?
There are three primary forms of inspection that we have mentioned in this guide: checkweighing, metal detection and x-ray. Each carries unique benefits.
Checkweighing works by weighing your products against a set limit. For example, if your product is designated to weigh 500 grams and is coming up heavier, it could be a sign that there are contaminants adding weight or that a machine needs recalibrating somewhere in your line. Of course, this will not account for lightweight contaminants.
Metal detection focuses on metal contaminants that might affect your products. It uses radiofrequency to identify metal parts, which might harm your customers if consumed. This is particularly beneficial if your application is a risk of contamination from machinery and equipment. It is worth noting that metal detector systems cannot detect all types of metal, such as stainless steel. It also won’t help you find non-metallic contaminants.
X-ray inspection is the most comprehensive form of inspection. Using x-rays to examine products, you create radiographs that allow you to identify a wide range of contaminants, including glass, stone, metal and plastic. If your product faces many risks from different sources, x-ray is the best way to cover almost all possibilities.
Understanding the capabilities of each inspection form, you need to find the one (or combination) that works best for your in-line requirements. Each solution assists you at different times.
In the pre-production stage, checkweighers tend to be common as they enable you to check the weight of your starting product before it goes out onto the production line. However, if you are working with an application prone to contamination before it reaches your plant, you may want to utilise a more intensive form of inspection.
Checkweighing, metal detection and x-ray all prove helpful at the in-line stage, depending on the requirements of your products. It is possible to embed each into your existing lines if you utilise systems that are compatible with your current machinery and equipment.
Each system also works as a final point of inspection. Metal detection and x-ray provide more insight into your products due to their enhanced capabilities so that you guarantee the quality of your output. Each is also capable of inspecting products in containers, which is important if you need to review packaged goods.
Many manufacturers may utilise combi checkweighers and x-ray or metal detector solutions as they allow you to weigh your products while still reviewing the quality of your goods at each stage of the production process.
The key is to understand your products and the risks presented across the whole production process (including pre-production) and find solutions that address all needs. Remember that whichever solution you choose, you should ensure your staff are fully trained.
Conclusion
Inspection serves a crucial purpose in your production management processes. By implementing it, you keep customers satisfied, reduce the threat to consumer safety and meet standards. This helps fulfil the goals all manufacturers want to have: a reputation as a provider of high-quality, with reduced expenses through waste and recalls.
Utilising inspection of the pre-production, in-line and final stages will increase your chances of reaching the holy grail of perfect, uncompromised output. However, it is vital to find the most suitable approach and tools to help you refine your inspection process.
At Yamato, we offer a range of systems that enables you to incorporate inspection into your plant. This includes stand-alone checkweighers or checkweighers integrated with either metal detection or x-ray. Our solutions are also compatible with most production lines, allowing you to install them easily.