New Zealand-based sorting equipment manufacturer Compac has completed the a new packing line for leading US lemon and avocado supplier, Limoneira.
Stewart Lockwood, director of packing and lemon operations at Limoneira, said the fit-out ensured the company would continue to meet its rigorous quality selection standards for both export and domestic markets.
“After more than a year of research and visiting citrus and stone fruit houses in California, Argentina and Mexico, Compac's sorting solutions stood out as the best choice for Limoneira,” Lockwood explained. “They offer the ideal combination of cutting-edge technology, superb manufacturing quality, excellent service and technical support and non-stop research and development.”
The new line features Compac’s advanced InVision software, which uses digital cameras to scan produce, taking up to 30 images of every piece as it passes along the line.
“InVision has been built on a philosophy of balancing ease of use with power and flexibility and we believe it’s this philosophy that has allowed our equipment to outperform all other solutions on the market,” said Ken Moynihan, vision systems programme manager for Compac.
Moynihan added that the InVision software enables density sorting, even on irregular and flat shaped produce. Lockwood said this would provide extremely valuable when it came to detecting frost damage.
“Our primary goal was to make our new pack line both faster and gentler than our current line,” Lockwood said. “InVision’s ability to grade fruit at 12 pieces per second without sacrificing accuracy is very impressive. Their Gentle Box Filler is amazingly gentle with the fruit. When you are sending your citrus on a 10 to 30 day boat ride to overseas customers, this gentle handling makes a big difference at the other end.”
