Considering X-Ray Inspection? Keep These 10 Factors In Mind

By Sam Lewis

Discovering contaminants through product-inspection technology is essential to not only the reputation of your company, but also to the health of the public. Today’s X-ray inspection technologies are designed to meet the demands of extensive processing lines and a variety of packaging types. When considering X-ray inspection systems for you company, be sure to ask these questions.

Does This System Meet Safety Standards?
X-ray systems should be implemented that meet or exceed current safety standards. Two to keep in mind are the FDA’s Code of Regulation 21 Part 1020.40 along with the more demanding United Kingdom IRR 1999 limits. Also, remember the landscape of food safety is changing. Make sure your company is familiar with FSMA and changes from it that could affect how your company inspects products.

Does It Come With Routine Maintenance?
For an X-ray system to perform optimally, routine maintenance is essential. Remember, heat, friction, and moisture are all part of your food plant and these elements are your inspection system’s enemies. Your system should be serviced every six months by a technician from its manufacturer. This technician will service air filters, conveyors, rollers, belts, gaskets, locks, wiring, safety switches, radiation shields, diagnostic screens, and check the total run time of the equipment.

Does It Alert You Of Needed Maintenance?
Many components of an X-ray inspection system have limited lifetimes. X-ray tubes contain filaments and vacuums, much like light bulbs. The average life of tubes is around 10,000 hours of use, but overheating can limit that lifespan. Your system should alert you when a mechanism is nearing the end of its life, long before it completely fails. This will help minimize the downtime of replacement parts.

Is This System Powerful Enough?
Choosing the right X-ray power will help guarantee accuracy and reduce the total number of false rejects. The selection of your source and your X-ray beam is essential to ensuring product quality. The X-ray beam must be wide enough to penetrate all pieces of your company’s largest product.

Is The System Easy To Use?
Numerous algorithms allow dense, sharp, oddly-shaped, and colored irregularities to be found. This provides the best detection in all circumstances of inspection. The system should also be generating reports that re easily understood and that it is accompanied with support tools and software for windows-based computer systems.

Does It Offer Flexibility?
The density, texture, and shape of a product all affect X-ray performance. The system’s efficiency is also affected by the speed of the processing line, packaging type, and the type of contaminant. When testing different systems, be sure to vary the contaminant type and its position on the product. It is also helpful to change the product’s position in the system. The best system should detect contaminants in almost all scenarios.

Does It Include Training?
It may as well be a paper weight if you don’t understand how to use it. It is important to understand the basic principles of your machine. From inspections to algorithm setup and calibration, all the way to rejection and reviewing reports, it is important to have a general understanding, provided by the manufacturer, of your system.

Are Irregularities Clearly Seen?
It is paramount that your product, as well as any irregularities and/or anomalies, are easily and clearly seen on the X-ray systems monitors. Saving rejected product images will help in recordkeeping practices, system adjustments, and fine tuning the machine.

What’s The Total Cost To Own?
The best value beats the lowest price when choosing an X-ray system. When choosing your system, be sure to examine all costs to be expected over the course of the machines five to ten year life. These include: initial purchase, installation, maintenance, repairs, replacements, downtime, and relocating equipment to other lines and facilities.

Is It From A Trustworthy Vendor?
The vendor’s experience with X-ray equipment in a food manufacturing environment along with a commitment to customer satisfaction is crucial when selecting your system. Once an X-ray system vendor is chosen, that company essentially becomes your company’s partner in brand and customer protection. Be sure your vendor is able to meet your demands on continuous improvement in safety and quality assurance.