“At the HACO Group we place a lot of value on our successfully implemented quality and environmental management systems,” explains Max Weiler, who is responsible for systems planning at HACO. “As a quality-focused business that understands its responsibilities, we have been certified according to ISO, BRC/IFS, halal, organic and kosher standards as well as specific national standards for many years. In addition, we often surpass these standards to meet the requirements of our business partners at home and abroad.”

HACO AG has been a METTLER TOLEDO customer for over 30 years. Before their soups, sauces and other products reach the retailer or end consumer, they undergo extensive quality control inspection. Integrated high-performance metal detectors from METTLER TOLEDO SAFELINE check the ingredients for metal contamination that could have entered the product during processing. The gravity fall detectors used were developed specially for inspecting powders and granular products. The high frequency technology of the metal detectors ensure extremely high sensitivity to all types of metal including non-magnetic stainless steels and all contaminants including wires, swarf and processing blade tips. The metal detectors can achieve a throughput of up to 6000 kg per hour.

Twenty-one checkweighers from monitor the weight of the HACO products in the final packaging, be it sealed pouches or folding boxes. The weight of the HACO products varies between 10 g and 1.5 kg. For discount retailer Migros, HACO manufactures instant soups in folding boxes. The weight of these instant soups is monitored by a GARVENS S2 checkweigher. The inline checkweigher identifies overweight or underweight products and separates them out using lift gate conveyors. The S2 from GARVENS checks up to 100 folding boxes per minute and can be flexibly integrated into HACO's production line. Up to 100 different products can be recorded in its item memory which is a useful function for a company like HACO with a very large product range.

In addition to the filling system for instant soups, sauces are weighed too. An S2 double-lane checkweigher with two weighing lines ensures that the weight of the four-way sealed pouches do not exceed 100 g, and these checkweighers can measure to an accuracy of 0.5 g. Like the single-track system, the double-track version also separates the overweight and underweight products reliably using sorting flap belts.