Christiaan Kapper says the collaboration with BESTMIX® Software has been hugely beneficial. “It’s great working together, as we’re both aiming to add value for the customer. The link between NutriControl NIR-Cloud and BESTMIX® Quality Control is a valuable addition to both applications.”
NutriControl is an independent commercial laboratory that operates in the feed, food, and dairy markets. It distinguishes itself through the NIR cloud, with which its customers can use the NIR calibration lines that NutriControl has developed. The link with BESTMIX® Quality Control ensures seamless interaction between the lab and the customer’s production facility.
NutriControl specializes in nutritional value and food safety analysis in the food, feed, and dairy sector. The Agrifirm Group subsidiary has 120 employees, seven departments, and 90 analysts, and it can run more than 900,000 tests. It employs more than 300 test methods, of which more than 90 are accredited. www.nutricontrol.be
BESTMIX® Quality Control streamlines quality management throughout the production cycle. Our software bundles the data from quality checks in one central database and tests it against legal requirements and a range of other parameters. Our user-friendly dashboards allow you to extract maximum value from quality-related data, which leads to better decisions.
For all NIR devices
One of NutriControl’s activities is near infrared analysis or NIR analysis for short. This method quickly reveals exactly how many nutrients a raw material or by-product contains. An important factor in the use of this technology is the quality of the calibration lines. There is a complex process behind the fine-tuning of those calibration lines, involving a large number of samples and statistical processing.
Christiaan Kapper, Global NIR Lead at NutriControl explains, “Each NIR device has its own calibration lines. That’s why many laboratories limit themselves to providing services for one specific device. NutriControl includes all frequently used NIR devices in its portfolio, both tabletop and mobile NIR devices. We draw up unique calibration lines for each device.”
Benefits of the cloud
“In the past, it was customary to build up the calibration curves locally with our own measurements. With this method you can’t accurately estimate whether the calibration lines are doing what they’re supposed to do,” explains Christiaan Kapper. “That’s why we’ve opted for a cloud solution.” The system automatically sends a spectrogram to the NIR Cloud. An analysis of the data is done in the cloud on the basis of the NutriControl calibration curves. Then the NIR Cloud sends the results directly to the customer. “The big advantage of this method is that we can continuously monitor all measurements and immediately identify deviations. Self-learning models and machine learning ensure that the calibration lines become even more accurate and are always up to date.
BESTMIX® Quality Control informs the user immediately whether the results are within the predetermined values and tolerances. If they’re not, the release of the load can be automatically refused.
Integration with BESTMIX® Software
BESTMIX® Quality Control has an important role within that process. “In BESTMIX® Quality Control, the customer indicates which sample collection is required and prints a sample label with a barcode,” says Christiaan Kapper. “The user scans the barcode with a sample number into the NutriControl platform, and then the NIR analysis can start. When the measurement results are predicted with the calibration lines, NutriControl sends the results via an API in real-time directly to BESTMIX® Quality Control, from where they are further processed in the customer’s internal processes. So no manual input is required.” In this way, NutriControl combines its expertise in the field of calibration lines with extensive quality control via BESTMIX® Quality Control in a real-time environment.
Jeroen Beheyt, Product Manager at BESTMIX® Quality Control, concludes: “Our relationship with NutriControl represents a nice cross-pollination. We certainly see opportunities for further integrations, which will deepen our collaboration even further and help our customers to take on new challenges.”