Descripción del proyecto
Inspección de alta tecnología para el queso parmesano
El queso parmesano es uno de los productos italianos más famosos del mundo. La demanda internacional no deja de aumentar. No obstante, la calidad y otros aspectos relacionados con el curado dependientes de las técnicas de almacenamiento y manejo tradicionales frenan su comercialización. La industria del queso parmesano ha mejorado los métodos de control tradicionales, pero estas son labores de precisión manuales. Una buena parte de la producción no puede comercializarse. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos PARMESCAN desarrolla un sistema de inspección de calidad del queso innovador y automatizado que permitirá controlar íntegramente el proceso de maduración. El sistema cuenta con un brazo robótico dotado de tecnología de imagen TAC para manejar y limpiar las ruedas de queso sin generar grietas ni defectos.
Objetivo
Italian parmesan cheese, which can only be produced in Italy's Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy provinces, is highly appreciated across the world. However, its expansion is currently hindered by quality and aging issues such as cracks and other defects which appear from handling and storage. The sector has implemented, over the years, a process to assess and control cheese quality in its warehouses (which can contain over 150,000 wheels of cheese, each one weighing 40kg). But this traditional method, based on manual handling, cleaning and regular inspection by trained experts, lacks accuracy, can create more cracks and results in an incorrect cheese grading. This trend is alarming: as it affects directly the acceptance and value of the cheese, producers fail to sell a significant amount of their production, reaching up to 8% in 2015.
We are Ing. Ferretti, a 40-year-old Italian company that protects and promotes traditional Italian and EU products through design, manufacturing and sale of automation solutions for the dairy industry. Based on our customers’ concerns, and leveraging our experience in parmesan cheese quality assurance process, we have been developing PARMESCAN, our automated cheese quality inspection system. Combining a robotic arm designed for perfect handling/cleaning of the cheese wheels with CAT imaging technology, our innovative, non-invasive technique will allow producers to fully monitor their cheese maturity and guarantee the seal of authenticity on their products. Not only will our innovation ensure optimum quality grading of this flagship Italian product, but it will also create a simplified and accurate tracking process for every single cheese in a warehouse.
We expect PARMESCAN system – starting with parmesan before its expansion to other cheeses and types of food – to consolidate our position as a leading player in the dairy industry and provide us €8 million additional revenues after 5 years of exploitation and a ROI of 280%.
Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologymedical engineeringdiagnostic imagingcomputed tomography
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedairy
- social sciencessociologyindustrial relationsautomation
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringrobotics
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
Régimen de financiación
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinador
42020 QUATTRO CASTELLA
Italia
Organización definida por ella misma como pequeña y mediana empresa (pyme) en el momento de la firma del acuerdo de subvención.