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How to Avoid Product Rejects in the Food & Beverage Industry

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 13:39:54 GMT

Are you in the food and beverage industry and experiencing too many rejected products from your production lines? This can be attributed to many different reasons for a wide variety of applications, but in all cases, it likely feels that your money is being thrown down the drain in wasted product, material, and time. Many times, a lot of these rejects can be caused by errors that result from the product not being fully dried prior to other steps in the manufacturing process. Below are some examples of how different drying systems can help reduce product rejects for your plant.

Avoid Rejects Caused by Labeling Errors:

Food and beverage manufacturers often need to label products, such as cans, bottles, jars, and uniquely-shaped bottles, after the filling process. This requires complete and effective, high velocity drying of the product prior to the labeling process to ensure the adhesion of labels on the products. If products are not dried properly, the labels will be unable to effectively adhere to the surface of the product and can end up being rejected. To help reduce the number of rejects experienced when labeling products, Paxton Products can help improve your drying systems with its high efficiency Air Knives and Knife Drying Systems. Paxton's Air Knives feature a continuous, uninterrupted air slot design that delivers full and uniform, high velocity air coverage over targeted areas to ensure effective and consistent drying. Available in 304 stainless steel and aluminum, Paxton's Air Knives and Knife Drying Systems can be custom-engineered to meet your plant's exact drying needs and specifications.

Minimize Product Contamination Caused by Compressed Air & Water Rinsing:

For canning and bottling professionals, products need to be effectively rinsed and dried prior to labeling and filling. A lot of manufacturers that use water and compressed air to rinse and dry bottles and cans often see product quality rejects due to water and oil contamination that comes from compressed air and water rinsing. With Paxton's Ionizing Rinsing Systems, you can replace traditional water rinsing and compressed air rinsing with a more sustainable and effective solution - without the need for water or compressed air. These air systems are designed to dissipate that static charges that cause dirt, debris, and other contaminants to adhere to surfaces, and then air blast the contaminants away using ultra-efficient, blower-driven air. Not only do Ionized Air Systems significantly reduce your plant's overall energy costs and water disposal costs, they provide more blow-off force at a target and can also improve the quality of products by eliminating the water and oil contamination caused by compressed air - ultimately reducing the number of quality rejects for your plant.

Reduce Smudging and Smearing of Ink on Product Packaging:

Food and beverage manufacturers often use ink jet printing to label consumer food products with date codes and expiration dates. To do this, the surface of the product where the ink is being added needs to be completely dry prior to printing or else the ink won't properly adhere to the product. This can lead to smearing and smudging of the ink and can ultimately cause the product(s) to be rejected - costing your plant time and money. To avoid this, powerful and effective drying equipment that can remove every drop of water from targeted areas is necessary for improving the quality of ink jet printing and reducing the number of product quality rejects overall. Paxton's Spyder Manifold can be used for spot drying, and effectively drying hard-to-reach areas that need extra drying attention. By combining inline nozzles with 'spider-like' arms that can flex to any position, the Spyder Manifold can target specific areas on products to ensure they are completely dry prior to ink jet printing.

Many food and beverage manufacturers see product rejects in their production lines because of errors that result from ineffective drying of products prior to other steps in their manufacturing process. Avoiding rejects caused by labeling issues, minimizing product contamination from compressed air and water rinsing, and reducing the smudging and smearing of ink on packaging can all help you to limit and avoid the amount of product rejects that your plant experiences.

For more information on how Paxton Products can help your plant avoid product rejects, contact us today.

Paxton Solutions for the Top 5 Most Common Food & Beverage Applications

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 12:51:37 GMT

Within the food and beverage industry, there are countless ways in which Paxton Products can provide you with the perfect air solution for improving your manufacturing and packaging operations. Whether you’re drying, conveying, cleaning, air rinsing, or blowing-off excess debris, food processors and packaging professionals heavily rely on Paxton Products for improving their packaging and production lines. From our industry-leading Air Knife Drying Systems to our high velocity PX-Series Centrifugal Air Blowers, Paxton Products has everything you need to effectively and efficiently run your business operations while also improving your manufacturing and production needs within the food and beverage industry.

Here are the top five most common food and beverage applications that Paxton Products sees on a regular basis:

Drying Products Prior to Labeling – For manufacturers needing to label products after filling, complete and effective drying of the product is required prior to labeling to ensure the adhesion of labels on products. This could include cans, bottles, jars, or even uniquely-shaped bottles. If the products are not dried properly, the labels will be unable to effectively adhere to the product and can end up being rejected. To avoid this, Paxton’s Air Knives and Knife Systems would be the perfect solution for effectively drying products prior to labeling. Not only do Paxton’s Air Knives feature a continuous, uninterrupted air slot design that delivers full, uniform air coverage over targeted areas, but they can also be custom engineered to meet your plant’s exact specifications.
Drying Consumer Food Products Prior to Ink Jet Printing – Food and Beverage manufacturers commonly use ink jet printing to label consumer food products with date codes, or expiration dates. To do this, the surface of the product where the ink is being added needs to be completely dry prior to printing or else the ink won’t properly adhere to the product. This can lead to smearing and smudging of the date code, which can ultimately cause the products to be rejected – costing your plant time and money. By combining inline nozzles with ‘spider-like’ arms that can flex to any position, Paxton’s Spyder Manifold can be used for spot drying, or effectively drying hard-to-reach areas that need extra attention.
Drying Bottles Prior to Vision/Detection Systems – As bottles move down the line, they need to be properly dried so that Vision and Detection Systems can properly detect any issues, such as underfilled bottles or crooked caps. The Paxton Products CapDryer is the perfect system for effectively drying and preparing bottles prior to Vision and Detection Systems. The CapDryer is an all-in-one drying manifold that provides complete drying of the bottle neck and lid of bottles ranging from 8-oz. to 3 liters. Not only does Paxton’s CapDryer effectively dry and prepare bottles to pass through vision systems, but it can also help improve your plant’s overall Vision System results by reducing the overall number of false rejects.
Bottle and Can Rinsing with Ionizing Rinsing Systems – Paxton’s Ionizing Rinsing Systems are the perfect solution for effectively rinsing and drying bottles and cans prior to labeling. These systems are designed to dissipate the static charges that cause dirt, dust, and other contaminants to adhere to surfaces, and then air blasts the contaminants away using ultra-efficient, blower-driven air. For canning and bottling professionals, Paxton’s Ionizing Rinsing Systems replace traditional water rinsing with a more sustainable and effective rinsing solution – without the need for water or compressed air. Not only can this significantly reduce your plant’s overall energy consumption, but it can also improve the quality of your products by eliminating the potential for oil contamination caused by compressed air.
Drying Food & Beverage Products Post-Pasteurization – Pasteurization is the partial sterilization of a substance (typically a food or liquid) at a specific temperature, for a specific period of time, in order to kill any potentially harmful bacteria and other microorganisms that may be present. Food processors and packagers use Pasteurization to heat-treat substances to "cook" the contents of food and beverage products to remove any bacteria - ultimately extending the shelf-life of their products and reducing the risk of foodborne illnesses. During the Pasteurization process, products move through a Tunnel Pasteurizer where they are heated in mass by spraying them with steam or hot water, and then maintained at a required temperature for a set period of time. After the pasteurizer, products will move back to single file and will need to be thoroughly dried to remove any excess water prior to labeling and/or any other packaging operations. Paxton’s 304 stainless steel Air Knives can be used to provide full drying coverage over targeted areas with the help of its continuous, uninterrupted air slot design. And because Paxton's Air Knives are able to withstand harsh detergents and wet washdown environments due to its 304 stainless steel construction, they can be positioned inside of Pasteurizers to contain water spray - ultimately improving production floor safety.

How can Paxton Products Help?

Whether you’re drying, cleaning, blowing off, or conveying, food processors and packagers rely heavily on Paxton’s air solutions to effectively dry and clean their products prior to packaging. Our team of experienced application engineers will work alongside you to build the perfect, custom-engineered solution that meets all of your plant’s application needs. To get started with your own Paxton Products system today, fill out our request a quote form, or contact us to learn more.