IS YOUR PRODUCT
REALLY MADE TO SPEC?
Food and beverage plant maintenance
staff routinely check that process temperature
sensors operate within the
stated accuracy specification for the
instrument. Importantly, industry regulators
insist on temperature sensor
calibration certificates being updated -
typically at three and six-months - and
at times in longer intervals. Engineers
comply by removing each probe and
despatching them to a certified calibration
laboratory for checking against a
more accurate reference probe.
But the real question here is…what
happens to product over the time a
traditional temperature sensor ‘drifts’?
When subsequently discovered, it’s
out of calibration during a routine
calibration check. Do we accept milk
or juice being pasteurised at the wrong
temperature?
Now, imagine a plant employing
highly accurate, SMART Industry 4.0
temperature sensors that have internal
14 JULY 2018
diagnostics - essentially a ‘heart-beat’
monitor - which alerts plant operators
the moment the temperature-sensing
element has drifted outside safe calibration
limits. If operators are alerted
to the fact a temperature sensor has
drifted out of specification, then it
implies product quality is maintained
and the public are protected.
Brand reputation is at risk here. News
headlines wouldn’t be complimentary
if a plant was forced to recall New
Zealand manufactured food, produced
between the time a traditional
temperature sensor drifted out of
specification and when the calibration
check-up happened. The cost and disruption
involved would be devastating,
especially if it took months to discover
the product was out of specification
and hence unsafe for human consumption.
In 2012, ifm electronic launched
the TAD series, the first intelligent
Smart Sensors
ifm have the most comprehensive range of
digital sensors and smart connection technology,
available today, ex-stock NZ!
Our IP69k, IO-Link (Smart) technology is used
in the most advanced F&B plants, globally.
German quality - supported by local engineers.
Interested to know more? Give us a call.
WARRANTY
years
on ifm products
Order 24/7
www.ifm.com/nz
Phone: 0800 289 436
Flow Pressure Temperature
Industrial
Communication
& Connectors
Vibration
Inductive, Capacitive
and Magnetic
Rotation &
Motion Control
Optical &
Vision
Level
ifm_F&B_Advert_Half Page_2017_08.5.indd 1 17/01/18 10:55 PM
FT441
temperature sensor with an internal
calibration monitoring alarm. These
new generation temperature sensors,
with a high accuracy +/-0.2K between
-10…130 degrees C, come with a fivepoint
calibration certificate and have
become the standard temperature
sensor for many multi-national food
and beverage manufacturing plants
– so why not protect your production
with SMART temperature sensors?
Please contact ifm ph. 0800 289436,
or check out www.ifm.com/nz
for more information.
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