Food safety and contaminant inspection specialist Fortress Technology has won its second award for its digital testing solutions at the recent Automate UK Awards 2024. 

Judges hailed the company’s “latest iteration of the automated machine verification checks as a revolutionary shift away from manual metal detection testing.” Not only does this protect consumers, but food processors also win as automatic testing helps to safeguard brands, and is a simpler, more robust method for conducting regular machine verification tests. 

Fortress collected the trophy for Innovative Processing System Multi-Purpose Technology at the Automate UK awards dinner hosted in September. Formerly the PPMA Group Industry Awards, the time and labour saving solution won this same category in 2022. The company’s digital offering has also been shortlisted as a Southern Make UK regional finalist in the category for Innovation, with the winners being announced in early November. 

Aware that many food processors over the last decade have forgone the benefits of automatic testing, Fortress now builds every metal detector globally to be ‘Halo Ready’. Combined with it’s Contact 4.0 reporting software, which connects and reports data from multiple networked metal detectors and checkweighers on the factory floor, the newest features also include a Payback Calculator to help users determine an accurate ROI. 

“Fortress presented some very strong metrics around cost savings for metal detection systems, with good customer testimonials,” highlighted the independent judges. Versatility, reliability, precision and speed, as well as the benefits of digitising paper-based systems, were also commended.

“We were absolutely thrilled to win this award and the recognition from our industry counterparts that digital adoption is clearly helping food processors to be more productive. Automating processes that have largely been paper-based is a fundamental step change in building sturdier and safer food supply chains. In particular, a data-driven approach expedites the response to production bottlenecks and swiftly identifies recalls,” comments Fortress Sales Director Phil Brown who collected the award on behalf of the global Fortress Technology team.  

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