Intermagnetics Installs Second Food Inspection System
570 Words
5141 Characters
03/09/98
08:25
PR Newswire
(Copyright (c) 1998, PR Newswire)
Latest Installation Significant Advance
in Strategy to Expand into New Markets
* LATHAM, N.Y., March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Intermagnetics General Corporation
(Amex: IMG) today announced that a major food manufacturer has accepted a
second fully automated food-quality inspection system developed and installed
* by Intermagnetics. The $1.25 million system, based on magnetic resonance (MR)
* technology, marks another milestone in Intermagnetics' strategy of leveraging
its existing technologies and products into new markets.
"Manufacturers are increasingly seeking more powerful technological
solutions for process control and quality assurance," said Carl H. Rosner,
* Intermagnetics' chairman and CEO. "Market drivers include new packaging
approaches, consumer safety requirements, quality enhancements and yield
improvements. We have demonstrated conclusively that MR -- in addition to
solving intractable food product inspection problems -- is a fully automatic,
cost-effective solution for demanding on-line manufacturing environments
applicable to a variety of products.
* "Intermagnetics is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this new business
opportunity as a result of our vertically integrated MR capabilities," Rosner
said. "These include permanent and superconducting magnets, refrigeration
technology, application-specific MR signal reception antennae (RF coils) and
complete MR systems, such as our award-winning clinical MR scanner now
marketed worldwide by Thermo-Electron's Trex Medical Corporation."
* Craig Gardner, Intermagnetics' manager for industrial MR systems, added:
"Manufacturers are recognizing the important advantages of MR as an industrial
inspection and analysis tool. These include the fact that bulk inspections of
products, such as foods, can be performed in a non-contact, non-invasive and
non-destructive manner without changing the nature of the product or
packaging. Furthermore, our fully-automated, self-calibrating control
software can provide a low-maintenance, very easy-to-use product readily
integrated into the manufacturing environment."
The two food-quality inspection systems have been individually optimized to
perform complete inspections of two different food products. Both of the
systems are provided with on-line diagnostics and calibration verification
capability and are operational on a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week basis.
In order to meet the customer's stringent product-handling and throughput
requirements, the systems independently inspect multiple packages of the food
product stacked in final shipping cartons at a rate of up to 84 packages per
minute. Examining shipping cartons in this manner requires a large inspection
system, incorporating sophisticated individual package interrogation
technology, resulting in a relatively high capital cost for the initial
systems. MR inspection systems for other applications could cost considerably
less, depending on the size and functionality required.
Major financial benefits of the recently installed food inspection systems
include low operating costs, since the permanent magnets neither require
cryogenic refrigeration nor consume electric power, while operating fully
automatically with minimal technical supervision.
* Intermagnetics and its partner, Surrey Medical Imaging Systems, Ltd. of
Guildford, England, jointly developed the food-quality inspection system and
are working with several organizations in food and other industries to address
additional commercial applications of MR technology in process control and
quality inspection.
* Intermagnetics is a leading developer and manufacturer of low-temperature
(LTS) and high-temperature (HTS) superconducting magnets, wire and cable as
well as associated low-temperature refrigeration equipment, and radio-
frequency (RF) coils, the combination of which is essential to successful
application of superconductivity, especially in equipment for Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (MRI). The Company is dedicated to the development and
commercialization of applied superconductivity and refrigeration systems. The
Company also supplies permanent magnet systems, materials separation equipment
and FRIGC(R) refrigerants as replacements for ozone-depleting refrigerants.
* /NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information about Intermagnetics General
Corporation, free of charge via fax, dial 800-PRO-INFO and use ticker symbol
"IMG."/
/CONTACT: Carl H. Rosner, Chairman & CEO, or Cathy Yudzevich, Investor
* Relations, both of Intermagnetics General Corp., 518-782-1122; or Karl
Plath,
General Inquiries, 312-640-6738, or Margaret Huebner, Analyst
Inquiries, 312-640-6725, both of The Financial Relations Board/
08:10 EST
I0607 * End of document. |
