Automated production control in the pet food industry – how vision systems improve production safety?

Market pet food (pet food) is developing today at a very dynamic pace. The growing number of companion animals, the phenomenon of the so-called “pet”. pet humanization and consumers’ increasing demands for product quality mean that manufacturers of pet food must continuously increase production efficiency while maintaining the the highest standards of food safety.

According to market reports, the global pet food market was worth approximately USD 128-132 billion by 2024-2025, and could reach as much as more than $226 billion by 2034, growing at a rate of about 6% per year (CAGR).

Market growth pet food translates into increasingly higher demands on producers – primarily in terms of production safety, quality and repeatability of processes. Especially in the segment premium feeds What matters is not only the efficiency of the technological process, but above all the certainty that each batch meets strict quality standards.

This implies the need to carefully inspect of raw material, packaging and product labeling. Even seemingly minor errors can lead to complaints, image losses and, in extreme cases, violations of the production safety standards. Therefore, more and more manufacturers are implementing vision systems for automatic production control, which allow to detect irregularities in real time.

These technologies are used in three key areas of production, among others wet food:

• control of cans and packaging

• control of labels and overprints

• quality control of raw meat

Inspection of cans as part of automatic production control

One of the key steps in the production of canned food is quality control of the packaging. Even minor damage to the can can lead to a loss of leakage, resulting in product spoilage and danger to the food safety. For this reason, manufacturers are increasingly implementing solutions based on machine visionthat enable automatic production control and detect irregularities early in the process.

Scanway vision systems allow you to control the entire production line without having to stop it. In practice, this means that even Up to 300 cans per minute, while maintaining full inspection accuracy. This makes it possible to Very precise and repeatable quality control of packaging, without the risk of slowing down the technological process.

The range of abnormalities detected is very wide. Scanway vision systems primarily analyze the correctness of closure of the can, since this is where critical defects most often occur.

Typical drawbacks include:

• Can seam distortion and damage,

• The so-called “teeth”,

• seam drop,

• dents and deformations,

• creases not connected to the body,

• cracks in the material.

This type of damage can lead to leakage of packaging, and thus to the ingress of air and bacteria into the can.

Automatic production control also includes other packaging components. Vision systems check the geometry of the can and detect deformations, control the correctness of prints, and verify the presence and position of elements such as the opening key or label.

When nonconformities are detected a vision system that works in conjunction with a rejecter on the production line automatically removes defective cans from the processbefore they reach further stages of packaging or distribution.

With this approach automated production control is becoming an important element in ensuring production safety in the food and pet food industry. Automated inspection eliminates the risk of overlooking defects that could be missed during manual inspection, while maintaining the High and reproducible quality of products reaching consumers.

Label inspection as part of production safety

In the production of pet food as important as the quality of the product itself is the The correctness of the marking of the packaging. The label contains key information for the consumer and for systems of product traceability, including:

• product name,

• composition,

• production date,

• lot number (LOT).

Misprints, illegible markings or improperly applied labels can lead to product identification problems in the supply chain, as well as to complaints or batch recalls. Therefore, an increasingly important role in this area is being played by Automatic production control based on vision systems. Modern vision solutions allow real-time analysis of the quality of the print and the correctness of the label application on the packaging.

This makes it possible to quickly detect printing errors or marking inconsistencies while still at the production stage. Automatic production control also includes verification of the correctness of the labeling process itself. The vision system verifies the label’s presence, shape, color and accuracy of application on the package.

If an abnormality is detected, the defective product can be automatically removed from the production line, reducing the risk of mislabeled products entering the market.

Meat quality control using hyperspectral technology

Ensuring high quality meat raw material is one of the key elements of production safety in the pet food industry. Therefore, more and more inspection processes are using Vision systems based on hyperspectral imaging technology.

In vision systems used for raw material quality control are used hyperspectral cameras, which enable analysis of the product in a much wider range of information than standard industrial cameras.

Instead of capturing only images in the visible light range, the hyperspectral camera analyzes hundreds of narrow wavelength bands, which makes it possible to obtain detailed data on the physical and chemical properties of the product under study. In practice, this means the ability to detect features invisible to the human eye and traditional imaging systems.

For meat analysis, the technology primarily allows detect impurities and undesirable elements in the raw material, such as:

• fragments bones,

• cartilage,

• pens,

• fragments of of plastic,

• elements packaging film,

• fragments rubber or paper.

Analysis of the reflected light spectrum makes it possible to distinguish between materials with different properties, so that impurities can be detected even at the production stage. This is crucial for production safety, as it eliminates raw material from the process that could pose a threat to the quality and safety of the final product. As a result automatic production control includes not only visual evaluation of the raw material, but also identification of foreign bodies and impurities, which may pose a threat to production safety.

Application of hyperspectral imaging in vision systems makes it possible to significantly increase the effectiveness of of raw material quality control and provides important support for producers in maintaining high standards of production safety.

Automation of quality control is playing an increasingly important role in ensuring safety of the production process in the pet food industry.

Use of vision systems allows to monitor key stages of production – from quality control of raw meat, through packaging verificationup to control of labels and product markings. This makes it possible to quickly detect irregularities and eliminate defective products while they are still in production. As a result automated production control supports the maintenance of high standards of quality and safetythat are crucial for both manufacturers and end consumers.