HAVER & BOECKER expands its QUAT2RO® AI product suite — including QUAT2RO® MatEx Check and QUAT2RO® Valve Check — with the addition of QUAT2RO® Bag Check and QUAT2RO® Seal Check for industrial packing and filling in the cement, building materials, food and chemical industries. The new AI-powered QUAT2RO® Bag Check prevents the use of incorrect bags by monitoring the bag placed in the bag magazine on the packing machine. The QUAT2RO® Seal Check system supports full-line automation by detecting product on the conveyor and removing unsealed bags before palletizing. Combined with QUAT2RO® MatEx Check and QUAT2RO® Valve Check, these options make up the full array of the QUAT2RO® AI product suite.
“The success of our first AI product, QUAT2RO® MatEx Check, prompted us to explore other unique AI solutions to address the unique needs of our customers and expand into other detection options,” said Dirk Bergmann, Head of AI at HAVER & BOECKER. “QUAT2RO® AI isn’t just the next digital product. It’s the last digital product our customers will need to buy. The AI systems integrated into these machines continuously learn and update, meaning you’re preparing your packing line for the future.”
QUAT2RO® Bag Check uses image recognition to verify that the correct bags are placed into closed, automated packing machines like the INTEGRA® IV. The system uses a camera to identify the bag before filling begins. If the system flags a bag as the incorrect type, the packing line stops to allow operators to replace it. QUAT2RO® Bag Check provides a safeguard against product being filled into the wrong bag and potentially not being caught until palletizing or, at worst, when it reaches the customer. Like QUAT2RO® MatEx Check, it identifies and prevents issues before they become critical.
QUAT2RO® Seal Check ends the packing line. A camera monitors bags leaving the packing line checks the sealed valves for loose product on the conveyor. When an issue with the seal is detected, the bag is diverted off the line to a separate area.
As QUAT2RO® Bag Check and QUAT2RO® Seal Check serve as bookends to the packing line and AI products, QUAT2RO® Valve Check and QUAT2RO® MatEx Check are all about what goes on during filling. QUAT2RO® Valve Check, one of the first QUAT2RO® AI products, decreases downtime and increases product usage by ensuring that each valve bag is fitted to the filling spout properly. The system identifies improperly opened bags and drops them to the machine floor for manual rework. Operators can then pick up the bags, open them by hand and place them back on the packing line — saving some operations as much as 50 euros per day. Packing lines that implement QUAT2RO® Valve Check have seen a rapid decrease in incorrect bag applications.
Introduced in 2024, QUAT2RO® MatEx Check — short for material explosion check — monitors the filling process inside the machine using a high-quality camera system. When the camera detects abnormal material discharge during the filling process, the system alerts the operator and stops the process immediately, eliminating what used to be a costly error both in terms of product loss and downtime to clean up after. These systems can typically fill up to 30 kilograms per second. Earlier systems relied on bag weight to determine when filling was disrupted, which could lead to a two-second delay in shutting down the machine — resulting in a loss of 60 kilograms of product before the machine would stop filling. QUAT2RO® MatEx Check registers changes faster and eliminates or significantly reduces that product loss.
All four QUAT2RO® AI Systems can be linked through QUAT2RO® Connect for facilities seeking deep integration with their packing line. The HMI dashboard on these machines can showcase additional data to help streamline packing processes and anticipate future bottlenecks. HAVER & BOECKER’s in-house AI experts monitor QUAT2RO® Connect to help identify where problems stem from and how to fix any current or potential issues with the operation’s packing line. Both QUAT2RO® Connect and the QUAT2RO® AI Systems can be retrofitted into all enclosed automated packing machines or incorporated as an optional upgrade on new machines.
To learn more about the benefits of QUAT2RO® and HAVER & BOECKER’s newest AI technology, visit https://www.haverboecker.com/en/products/digital-products/.