A visit to TOMRA Sorting’s booth at Anuga FoodTec could pay dividends for food processors looking to boost efficiency and production.
A trio of machines from TOMRA Sorting Food will be on display at booth F010 in hall 10.1 at the trade fair, which takes place in Cologne, Germany, 24-27 March. It is the only exhibition in the world that covers all aspects of food production and the theme for this year’s event is resource efficiency.
TOMRA Sorting Food will be using its QVision analyser, the new and improved Halo, and Nimbus sorter to show processors how they can maximise their yield and run an efficient operation at the same time.
Steve Raskin, sales director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: "Pressure on resources combined with climate change and a rapidly increasing global population means food security is a serious concern for the supply chain. But food processors do not have to sacrifice yield for sustainability and efficiency.
"The sorting solutions developed by TOMRA have been designed to help processors optimise their production lines in order to reduce waste and maximise yield."
The QVision analyser is suitable for both fresh and frozen meat and able to simultaneously measure the fat, moisture, protein and collagen content inline of up to 30t of meat per hour, making it an ideal choice for high-volume processors.
Along with the consistent end product quality and savings generated through reduced lean giveaway, this helps customers maximise profits from their raw materials.
The Nimbus free-fall sorter will also be on display at Anuga. Suitable for a wide range of applications, including dried fruits, vegetables, nuts, and IQF fruits and vegetables, the machine ensures a highly accurate sort to remove unwanted discolourations, foreign material and off-spec products.
The Nimbus’s multiple laser and high-resolution camera system enables sorting by colour, structure, size, shape and biological characteristics in free-fall.
The Nimbus Smart Sort module allows the machine to be used to its fullest capabilities and ensures sorting performance occurs at the optimum level, resulting in increased efficiency, yield and quality of the end product.
Advanced artificial intelligence makes the machine self-learning and defines good products and defects. Furthermore, the sorting machine automatically selects the best sorting parameters for creating a higher level of contrast, resulting in a lower false reject and the highest possible efficiency. To optimise the sorting performance even further, product-specific defects can be self-taught.
Another technology extension to the Nimbus is the state-of-the-art Biometric Signature Identification (BSI) module. The technology works by detecting the biometric characteristics of objects it scans and comparing them to features in its stored database, to determine whether they should be accepted or rejected.
The BSI module detects even smaller biological defects compared to conventional spectral technology and means the Nimbus is ideal for pre-sorting, as well as effective re-sorting or reverse sorting. A pre-sort can reduce the incoming defect load without discarding good product. This can be very cost effective, since product handling and storage all costs money.
For superior performance, fruit, potato and vegetable processors need to look no further than the Halo sensor-based optical sorter. The advanced Halo sorting system views and analyses visible attributes such as colour, shape, blemish, foreign material, as well as ‘invisible’ defects to the product composition.
Processors benefit from low-operational costs, 80% labour reductions, an increased throughput of 25%, and yield increases that can reach up to 4%.
The Halo will be fitted out with a new user interface and several other new features and improvements.
TOMRA has a large portfolio of sorting solutions and technologies to address the challenges faced by processors across the different food sectors. At Anuga, the TOMRA team will be available to answer questions and discuss processors’ specific sorting requirements.
