1The world leader in serving science

Bob Ries, Lead Product Manager, X-Ray Inspection and Metal Detection

Pack Expo 2014

X-Ray Product VerificationA New and Unique Application Framework

GOOD BAD

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Premier Brands

Global Scale • 50,000 employees in 50 countries

• $17 billion in annual revenues

• Unparalleled commercial reach

• 10,000 employees working with customers every day

The World Leader in Serving Science

Unmatched Depth• Innovative technologies

• Applications expertise

• Lab productivity partner

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We enable our customers to make the worldhealthier, cleaner and safer

A Mission We’re Proud Of

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Product Inspection History One Brand

1947 Goring Kerr founded

1985 Ramsey Purchased ICORE

1998 Thermo Electron acquires Goring Kerr

1994 Thermo Electron purchases Ramsey

2000

2007

2002

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On-Line Inspection Solutions for Food and Pharma

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• Incidents and recalls are more public• Mass, easy communication via the internet• Consumers are more educated and concerned

• Detection systems more capable and less costly• X-ray systems can find more types of objects

• Typically smaller metal can be found too• Systems are very easy to use and own

• Heading toward zero tolerance• 3-5 mm was OK, now 1mm can be detected• Recognition that all hazards must be detected, they can

never be eliminated completely

Why Food Safety is More Important Today Than Ever

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Thermo Scientific™ NextGuard™ X-ray

• The next generation in the X-ray inspection market

• Unique value proposition

1. Detects more2. Simple-to-use3. Easy-to-own

• Makes the migration from metal detection to X-ray more compelling

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Some Sample X-Ray Images/Contaminants

Random shape glass pieces in cans>= 0.8mm metal spheres in cheese

>= 2.5 mm ceramic spheres (rocks) coffee beans

>= 1 mm metal spheres in cookies(edge mask shown)Plastic gasket pieces in pies

1 mm metal sphere at bottom of juice bottle

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Common Quality Checks Customer Ask For Next

• Gross under/overfill• When a checkweigher is NOT present

• Missing products or components (counting)• Did everything end up in the bag/box?

• Cracks• Rigid products that are damaged in handling

• Incorrect size and/or shape• Misformed products

• Presence of dense objects (e.g. dessicants)

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Why Simple Menu Driven Systems Won’t Work

• The software provider can’t foresee all the applications so they must make constant enhancements

• Many image processing and analysis steps are “hard wired” together so flexibility is limited

• New applications require new addition(s) to the menus, dialog boxes, parameters, etc.

• Sometimes hidden parameter changes are needed so you must wait for the manufacturer to help you

• Why are spreadsheets so useful?• Flexible, powerful, extendable, easy to use

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The NextGuard Approach to Product Verification

• Flexible vision tools you can apply to x-ray images

• Dataflow model: image processing, thresholding (if needed), image analysis

• Immediate feedback during set-up

• Multiple inspections (individual or linked) possible

• Dual rejection systems for root cause determination

12The world leader in serving science

Sample inspections with NextGuard

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Checking Count: Detect a Missing Chocolate

• Problem statement: Screen for random, missing chocolates in a closed box.

• The NextGuard solution:• The product verification tool with

minimum area and counting

• Application considerations:• Package and product consistency

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Finding Quality Defects: Crack in a Granola Bar

• Problem statement: Find large cracks in cereal bars after packaging.

• The NextGuard solution:• The product verification tool with either

minimum area measurement or the line profile tool looking for white spaces.

• Application considerations• Consistent placement with guiderails (line

profile)• Multiple layers and orientation?

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More Complex Counting: Missing Sticks of Gum

• Problem statement: Determine if gum sticks are missing in a 2D matrix (3 X 2)

• The NextGuard solution:• Product verification tool with precise threshold

setting, min/max area and counting.

• Application considerations:• Consistent product density and size

Good

Bad – 1/6 Missing

Bad – 2/6 Missing

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Verifying Assembly: Ice Cream Bar Stick Presence

• Problem statement: Detect random missing wood sticks

• The NextGuard solution• Product verification with either area

measurement or line profile

• Application considerations• Product orientation/position and density

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Detecting Pattern Differences: Stacked Cookies

• Problem statement: Determine if a cookie is missing in a stack

• The NextGuard solution• Product verification line profile tool,

thresholding not possible for blob counting

• Application considerations• Product density and angle/stacking

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X-Ray Mass Estimation: Detect Gross Under Fill

• Contaminant detect AND look for 5% underfill errors in 1.5 oz peanut butter packs

• Must consider accuracy (offset) and repeatability (std deviation) for total precision

SCALE WEIGHT (g)

NEXTGUARD WT (g) ACCURACY STANDARD DEVIATION (g) REPEATABILITY (g) PRECISION

(Offset + 3σ)

Min Max AverageOffset (Ave -Expected) (g) 3σ Range (g) 3σ

Absolute value %

48.3 47.8 49.3 48.3 0.0 1.7 1.5 3.6% 3.7%47.87 48.7 49.7 49.1 1.2 1.3 1 2.6% 5.1%48.06 47.8 49 48.6 0.5 1.4 1.2 2.8% 3.9%46.59 46.3 47.5 46.8 0.2 1.5 1.2 3.1% 3.5%48.85 47.4 48.8 48.2 -0.7 1.6 1.4 3.2% 4.6%

Average Across Samples 48.2 0.3 1.5 1.26 3.1% 4.2%

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Next Steps for Your Applications

• Determine what products could benefit most from X-ray detection and inspection

• Ask Thermo Fisher to recommend a system• Aperture size, X-ray power beam orientation

• Send samples and your requirements in for testing• 5-10 of each type/size

• Receive a report stating feasibility and performance

• See a live demo either in person or via the web• Ways to deploy a system

• Purchase, Lease, Rental/Test Drive, PASS (Product Assurance Solutions and Services)

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Food and Beverage community www.thermoscientific.com/foodandbeve

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Food and Beverage Resources

Examining Food Blogwww.acceleratingscience.com/food

Videos, webinars, audio podcasts, white papers, case studies, and more!

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Questions?

Thank youBob RiesBob.Ries@thermofisher.com

Your partner in product and process improvement

www.thermoscientific.com/productinspection