For generations, Backwelt Pilz in the Waldviertel region of Lower Austria has produced high quality frozen rolls and other baked goods. In 2002 it was founded as an independent company in further development of the Traditionsbäckerei Gmünd bakery, which has been in existence since 1904. There has been considerable investment made to expand the product portfolio as well as enhance production technology.
Under the motto “We Loaf Quality,” Backwelt Pilz manufactures products of consistently top quality and has been certified according to the guidelines of Austria Bio Guarantee and the International Food Standard since 2004.
The company produces pre-baked and pre-cooked frozen baked goods for the retail trade, petrol station shops and gastronomy sector. In bolstering its guard against the possibility that along with grain and seed ingredients, unwanted physical impurities such as metal particles, glass splinters and stones accidentally enter the production process, Backwelt Pilz has installed Sesotec RAYCON D+ X-ray inspection equipment for packaged products. In supplementing the work of metal detectors that screen out iron, stainless steel and non-ferrous particles, the RAYCON D+ X-ray unit detects stones and other foreign materials in addition to smaller and difficult to detect metallic impurities.
A special feature of the combination system called for development of an individual solution with Backwelt Pilz that makes it possible to use RAYCON technology even for unpacked breads. In this scenario, the customer must regularly remove bread crumbs from the device — a step that has been woven into the sophisticated hygiene concept.
The foreign bodies detectors are integrated at the end of the production process before the baked goods are packed in cartons. Contaminated items are placed in an IFS-compliant lockable collection container. Everything runs automatically, continuously and without interruption.
With the combination of metal detection plus X-ray technology, a large number of foreign bodies are efficiently detected and removed. In this way, safety of the production processes and the purity of products are guaranteed to the maximum extent.
“The detection of foreign bodies is running very well. Since commissioning there has been a great reduction in complaints, as even the smallest impurities such as stones are sorted out. We are very satisfied with the custom solution developed together with Sesotec,” said Johannes Pilz (pictured above), managing director of Backwelt Pilz.
Schönberg, Germany-headquartered Sesotec, has been active in the foreign object detection, material sorting and analysis systems sector of the food industry since 1976. Beyond Europe, it has subsidiary operations in the USA, Canada, China, Singapore and Thailand, and is represented in more than 60 countries around the world.
