System Streamlines and Optimizes Oxygen Measurement for Packagers

A new measuring system, produced by PBI-Dansensor in close partnership with HiQ will make it easier, safer and quicker to achieve the best food packaging according to PBI-Dansensor. The food producers using the tool will get their products out into the stores faster and can benefit from an optimum shelf life says the company.

PermMate is a measuring system that analyses the volume of oxygen in all types of sealed packaging. Before foods are placed in supermarket chillers they go through a long control process to ensure the products are bacteria-free when they reach consumers. Packaging tests are an important part of this process. Laboratories test the permeability of oxygen into the packaging to ensure the products are labeled with the correct shelf life, but this testing takes time and has a large margin of uncertainty.

“Thanks to HiQ we have succeeded in creating a measuring system that streamlines and modernizes the way the volume of oxygen in the package is analyzed,” said Peter Franklen, Development Manager at PBI-Dansensor. “The current sample tests take time and have a large margin of uncertainty precisely as the measurement is carried out on only a section of the package. With PermMate we can measure the whole package quicker than a sample test. And not least, it is more reliable. This means that companies that use PermMate can not only optimize their work processes, they can also optimize their cost prices. Packaging makes up a large part of the cost price, and PermMate reduces packaging waste,”

PBI-Dansensor’s PermMate system consists of two instruments and a PC application. CheckMate II is an oxygen analyzer, which works with the PermMate device via PC software.

“We learned a lot from working with HiQ,” said Franklen. “Instead of developing non-stop and not testing until long into the development process, we were now able to test the product along the way. As a result, we were constantly making new discoveries about the product that enabled us to qualify it further as we went on. It was a very efficient process …”

The launch of PermMate is planned to take place before the end of the year, meaning that PBI-Dansensor will be the first in the market to offer such a product.