Raptor Combi makes COP compliance child’s play

For co-founders of the innovative natural remedy firm Sinéad Crowther and COO Denise Lauaki, commissioning the installation of the Raptor Combi ensures full product integrity and COP compliance from the get-go.

With global ambitions for the company’s newnon-choke Tonstix concept – which launched to the Irish market in April – the dissolvable honey jelly pops innovation has been years in the making. Designed to promote comfort to young children aged two and upwards, Ms Crowther describes it as her ‘Dragon’s Den’ innovation.
Emulating the benefits of a hard-throat lozenge, she developed a honey throat soothing product that was appealing to young children, and safety was paramount during all phases of development.

After partnering with Ms Lauaki in late 2019, Soothing Solutions' first hygienically flow wrapped packages of Tonstix rolled off the production line in Co.Louth in March 2022. Every single product pack is inspected for contaminants and checkweighed by the companyÂ’s new Fortress Raptor Combi system, ensuring full HACCP and retailer
COP compliance.

The Fortress Raptor Combination Metal
Detector and Checkweigher supplied by
domestic distributor Advanced Packaging Machinery fulfilled the brief. "In all my wildest dreams I never envisaged getting excited about a metal detector,” states Ms Crowther.

Considering the end user at every stage – the child – the inspection machine needed to provide the assurance of zero contaminations that could cause harm to a child..."No safety shortcuts were taken".

The Raptor system went in seamlessly. It’s very user friendly. Frankly, it is the smartest piece of kit on our line. Nothing feels bolted together. The screen collates all the production data we need. It ensures full weighing accuracy, extremely sensitive metal contaminant detection levels, full traceability and exceeds all of our COP compliance requirements.”

“How the Raptor Combi is programmed to the factor in the weight of packaging and the stick to ensure that retailers are getting precisely 7.9 grams of honey jelly pop is so critical for brand assurance. Same for the sensitivity of the metal detector and its ability to identify the tiniest fragments of metal. It gives us the ultimate peace of mind.”

A high performance system and a competitive price point, the Raptor Combi is capable of inspecting up to 150ppm, in pack formats of up to 8kg and measuring 300mm by 400mm. Digital signal processing, built-in data capture, remote access and single pass product learning is integrated into the inline system. Every machine is supplied with Fortress TechnologyÂ’s highly valued Sustainable Lifespan and COP Compliance guarantee.