Periodic Reporting for period 2 - XSpectra (XSpectra: The Most Advanced Real Time Food Contaminants Detector)
Période du rapport: 2020-04-01 au 2021-09-30
No matter the technological advancements that have been introduced over the years in the field of food safety and the increased quality controls all along the food processing lines, foreign bodies and contaminants still end up in the food we eat on a daily basis
This condition generates food recalls practically every week, with relevant implications on the consumer health, the costs for the products recall, the brand image of the food producer and, last but not least, the environment because of the food waste
Hereunder some facts:
- in the USA food contamination and products recall cost food manufacturers over 50 USD/bn each year
- a survey has brought out that 15% of consumers don’t buy again a product that was recalled and 21% of the consumers don’t buy for months any product from a food manufacturer that has undergone a product recall
- the negative impact on the environment resulting from the food waste, just consider that the recall of a single 125gr jar of tomato results in the waste of 223 l of water and 1.5 kg of CO2
In parallel with the above, consumers are becoming increasingly sensitive about the quality and safety of the food they eat.
Apparently, it seems as if there is no concrete solution to drastically improve the issue of food safety. The fact is that there is indeed a solution and it has been developed by Xnext SpA with XSpectra, the most advanced real-time food inspection detector.
XSpectra is a disruptive technology as it overcomes the weaknesses of conventional inspection solutions, thus determining a relevant technological leap. Based on X-ray multi-energy analysis, XSpectra is capable to analyze in few milliseconds the physical-chemical features of the product and identify the presence of foreign bodies currently not detectable.
The result of over 9 years of R&D, XSpectra is a very complex system, combining 3 high innovations: Photonics, Nuclear Electronics and Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Algorithms.
The aim of the project is the setting up of the industrial and commercial scale up of the technology and put in place actions to minimize the time-to-market and surge fast the visibility of XSpectra. Specifically, the main objectives are summarized below:
- putting a spotlight on the technology
- creating demo centers to attract prospect customers
- identifying reference champions for sponsoring and validating the technology
- implementing an aggressive commercial plan
XSpectra is beneficial for: the food manufacturers, as it provides the highest safety levels and improves significantly the production efficiency (minimizing the product batch discard as well as the costs for product recalls); for the consumers as it guarantees the highest safety standards for the quality of foodstuff; for the environment as it helps to reduce significantly the amount of wasted food from the production line
This condition generates food recalls practically every week, with relevant implications on the consumer health, the costs for the products recall, the brand image of the food producer and, last but not least, the environment because of the food waste
Hereunder some facts:
- in the USA food contamination and products recall cost food manufacturers over 50 USD/bn each year
- a survey has brought out that 15% of consumers don’t buy again a product that was recalled and 21% of the consumers don’t buy for months any product from a food manufacturer that has undergone a product recall
- the negative impact on the environment resulting from the food waste, just consider that the recall of a single 125gr jar of tomato results in the waste of 223 l of water and 1.5 kg of CO2
In parallel with the above, consumers are becoming increasingly sensitive about the quality and safety of the food they eat.
Apparently, it seems as if there is no concrete solution to drastically improve the issue of food safety. The fact is that there is indeed a solution and it has been developed by Xnext SpA with XSpectra, the most advanced real-time food inspection detector.
XSpectra is a disruptive technology as it overcomes the weaknesses of conventional inspection solutions, thus determining a relevant technological leap. Based on X-ray multi-energy analysis, XSpectra is capable to analyze in few milliseconds the physical-chemical features of the product and identify the presence of foreign bodies currently not detectable.
The result of over 9 years of R&D, XSpectra is a very complex system, combining 3 high innovations: Photonics, Nuclear Electronics and Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Algorithms.
The aim of the project is the setting up of the industrial and commercial scale up of the technology and put in place actions to minimize the time-to-market and surge fast the visibility of XSpectra. Specifically, the main objectives are summarized below:
- putting a spotlight on the technology
- creating demo centers to attract prospect customers
- identifying reference champions for sponsoring and validating the technology
- implementing an aggressive commercial plan
XSpectra is beneficial for: the food manufacturers, as it provides the highest safety levels and improves significantly the production efficiency (minimizing the product batch discard as well as the costs for product recalls); for the consumers as it guarantees the highest safety standards for the quality of foodstuff; for the environment as it helps to reduce significantly the amount of wasted food from the production line
The Project is a success story for the Company: the contribution of the European Commission has been decisive as it allowed to put our technology on the market with 10 installations on food processing lines that serve as a reference for other customers and now Xnext is qualified as a manufacturer of reliable X-ray machines
We also captured the investment of a venture capital fund on May 2021 and we moved to our new 2,000 square meter headquarters which allowed us to host not only a relevant increase in human resources (from 16 units at the beginning of the Project to 42 at the end of the Project) but also spaces for the demo center and for the production and testing of our machines
The main actions achieved are:
- analysed data from a pilot prototype to ensure data statistics and provide feedback for industrial and commercial development
- visibility on XSpectra inviting End-users at Xnext Lab to verify our inspection solution on their real cases of product recall (all cases in which conventional inspection technologies failed to detect contaminants in the foodstuff)
- 3 Demo centres with Xray machine equipped with XSpectra
- food test catalogue, continuously updated with new tests and applications
- aggressive marketing and commercial plan
- participated in the most important fair scheduled for 2019 and in 2021 for the food sector: at Cibustec in Parma (and Meat-tech in Milan, with our stand and from which we obtained excellent success for the contacts and the manifestations of interest collected
- speaker at the most important world scientific reference conference for nuclear science, testifying to the high level of interest also from the scientific community for the results achieved by the Project
- several digital events such as webinars organized by trade associations and we organized a digital launch event of the machine in September 2021 to support the communication of results, presenting the best cases developed during the Project, identified as Reference Champions
- 5 Reference Champions envisaged in the Project, bringing them from the original 3 to 5 industrial installations and introduced a second demo-machine in the Xnext Demonstration Center and specialize the two machines respectively in: (i) the inspection of vertical products, such as canned foodstuff and (ii) the inspection of horizontal products such as salads, cheeses etc
We also captured the investment of a venture capital fund on May 2021 and we moved to our new 2,000 square meter headquarters which allowed us to host not only a relevant increase in human resources (from 16 units at the beginning of the Project to 42 at the end of the Project) but also spaces for the demo center and for the production and testing of our machines
The main actions achieved are:
- analysed data from a pilot prototype to ensure data statistics and provide feedback for industrial and commercial development
- visibility on XSpectra inviting End-users at Xnext Lab to verify our inspection solution on their real cases of product recall (all cases in which conventional inspection technologies failed to detect contaminants in the foodstuff)
- 3 Demo centres with Xray machine equipped with XSpectra
- food test catalogue, continuously updated with new tests and applications
- aggressive marketing and commercial plan
- participated in the most important fair scheduled for 2019 and in 2021 for the food sector: at Cibustec in Parma (and Meat-tech in Milan, with our stand and from which we obtained excellent success for the contacts and the manifestations of interest collected
- speaker at the most important world scientific reference conference for nuclear science, testifying to the high level of interest also from the scientific community for the results achieved by the Project
- several digital events such as webinars organized by trade associations and we organized a digital launch event of the machine in September 2021 to support the communication of results, presenting the best cases developed during the Project, identified as Reference Champions
- 5 Reference Champions envisaged in the Project, bringing them from the original 3 to 5 industrial installations and introduced a second demo-machine in the Xnext Demonstration Center and specialize the two machines respectively in: (i) the inspection of vertical products, such as canned foodstuff and (ii) the inspection of horizontal products such as salads, cheeses etc
Since the starting of the Project, the general interest toward our technology and the requests to have one of our machines working on the line have grown considerably
The first decision taken was to extend the pilot tests to other End-users than those mentioned in the Project proposal, all are market leaders, with a strong focus on innovation. With a wider number of pilot tests, we have been able to build much faster a product catalogue
The second decision was to build ourselves (starting from the design) and offer the entire machine and not just the inspection system. This decision made us free to act on the market and better intercept the needs of the end-users of the line without the filters that otherwise would have existed.
An important milestone reached during the execution of the Project was the installation of our machines outside the domestic market (and specifically in France). This step has given us an international dimension
The unexpected interest toward XSpectra® has led us to speed-up the process initially planned to get to market earlier than envisaged
Thanks to the results achieved during the Project we are even more confident that XSpectra® will reach the ambitious and challenging prospects declared in the proposal phase of the Project because we have gained the visibility and demonstrated the reliability necessary to immediately become a must-have technology in the food sector
The impacts we expect are relevant and the benefits significant at every level:
- for the food manufacturers, not only because XSpectra® is already proving of being able to identify a number of foreign bodies (mainly low-density) that conventional inspection solutions are not able to detect. Also it improves significantly the efficiency in production, by reducing the false alarms and providing IoT real-time feedback
- for the consumers, considering the number of foreign bodies that the technology is already able to identify, it guarantees the highest safety standards for the quality of foodstuff
- for the environment, as the reduction of the false alarms together with a much more accurate inspection system, allow a significant reduction of the food wasted on the production line
The first decision taken was to extend the pilot tests to other End-users than those mentioned in the Project proposal, all are market leaders, with a strong focus on innovation. With a wider number of pilot tests, we have been able to build much faster a product catalogue
The second decision was to build ourselves (starting from the design) and offer the entire machine and not just the inspection system. This decision made us free to act on the market and better intercept the needs of the end-users of the line without the filters that otherwise would have existed.
An important milestone reached during the execution of the Project was the installation of our machines outside the domestic market (and specifically in France). This step has given us an international dimension
The unexpected interest toward XSpectra® has led us to speed-up the process initially planned to get to market earlier than envisaged
Thanks to the results achieved during the Project we are even more confident that XSpectra® will reach the ambitious and challenging prospects declared in the proposal phase of the Project because we have gained the visibility and demonstrated the reliability necessary to immediately become a must-have technology in the food sector
The impacts we expect are relevant and the benefits significant at every level:
- for the food manufacturers, not only because XSpectra® is already proving of being able to identify a number of foreign bodies (mainly low-density) that conventional inspection solutions are not able to detect. Also it improves significantly the efficiency in production, by reducing the false alarms and providing IoT real-time feedback
- for the consumers, considering the number of foreign bodies that the technology is already able to identify, it guarantees the highest safety standards for the quality of foodstuff
- for the environment, as the reduction of the false alarms together with a much more accurate inspection system, allow a significant reduction of the food wasted on the production line