Exquisite Frozen Cake Manufacturer Increases Product and Process Quality

Maximum product quality has to be guaranteed, and has come to be expected, from the customers of this frozen dessert specialist. Top quality checkweighing and metal detection systems are essential in ensuring this quality.

Grötsch Tiefkühl-Backwaren GmbH produces a range of exquisite frozen cakes - to meet customers’ specific requirements, as well as under the brand name “Heinersdorfer Torten”. Frozen cakes offer a practical alternative to home made treats, and are increasingly becoming the favorite amongst many consumers. Each and every delicious cake is produced by Grötsch following the traditionally recipe, without the addition of any preservatives. The high degree of product quality is an essential selling point to customers.

Quality Inspection Solutions
At their manufacturing facility in Berlin, Grötsch has installed modern checkweigher solutions with a metal detection system from METTLER TOLEDO. The modern inspection solution supports the quality management processes of manufacturers who are aware of the importance of quality in the food production industry.

Identifying and rejecting under and overweight products from the current production process is one of the benefits this CombiChecker has to offer. It will also identify any contaminants within the product at almost the same time. It ensures product quality in accordance with the International Food Standard (IFS). They inspect and document the product weight of packed products and, at the same time, detect any contaminants.

Grötsch modern quality management concept
“Our quality management system assures the high quality of our cakes. We do not use any preservatives here at Grötsch, as the deep-freezing which we have been practicing over the years, is the best way of preserving the freshness and taste of our cakes,” explains Roberto Rodriguez-König, Operations Manager at Grötsch.

CombiChecker Benefits
The XE3 CombiChecker™ inspects the film-wrapped cakes at the end of the production line, shortly before the final packaging process. The XE3 CombiChecker™ is a combined solution comprising a checkweigher and metal detector. Furthermore, these two systems can be controlled via the same checkweigher terminal. This also enables settings to be automatically transferred to the metal detector when production is changed over to another product. Not only are the product changeovers simplified, but a great deal of time is also saved in the production process. Also worthy of mention are the quick-release detents on the weighing belt conveyor. These can be released faster, thereby facilitating cleaning operations at Grötsch Tiefkühl-Backwaren.

Up to 30 cakes per minute are weighed and simultaneously inspected for contaminants
In doing so; the checkweigher weighs products with a weighing precision of up to 1 gram. Overweight or underweight cakes are reliably rejected from the production process using a pusher. Metal contaminants which may be introduced with raw materials are detected by means of the metal detector. The products affected are reliably separated from the “good products” and sorted into a lockable catch bin by another pusher. Consequently, any vibrations caused by the ejection procedure do not affect the weighing results.

Functions that are essential to finished packaging regulations, such as reporting and statistical evaluations, can be performed directly at the combichecker, thereby providing valuable data for process optimization. Any cakes that are rejected by the metal detector are separately shown (counted) in the statistical program of the checkweigher. “The XE3 CombiChecker™ is easy to operate and offers a very good price/performance ratio,” comments Roberto Rodriguez-König enthusiastically. “The checkweigher/metal detector combination solution appeals to us, as it not only saves space, but is also a more cost effective option when compared with separate units.