Paramount Citrus has announced further expansion plans for its Wonderful Halos Plant in Delano, California. Already the world’s largest citrus packhouse, the site’s capacity will be increased by 75 per cent in order to grade and package 52m mandarins a day.
New Zealand-based firm Compac Sorting Equipment will handle the fit-out, having already supplied Paramount with a 40-lane, 97m-long pregrader. The upcoming installation will see an additional 30 lanes integrated into the pregrader, while six bin filling lines will also be added, taking the total of fillers to 52. A fourth autonomous bin-stacking robot will complete the installation.
“Compac systems provide us with superior and proven technology,” said Jason Blake, vice president of Paramount’s Californian operations. “Computational methods are much more accurate than other vendors’ systems, they provide a higher quantity of available data and product information, as well as more options for grading and sorting of various fruit characteristics.”
The installation is expected to be completed by September, 2014, with Compac continuing to offer 24-hour technical support.
“Compac’s technical installation team is tops in the field and they provide
proper equipment support anytime day or night,” Blake explained.
“Their knowledgeable technicians are able to quickly and easily troubleshoot any issues that arise, resulting in minimal downtime of our lines, which translates into increased uptime and productivity for our business.”
Compac’s sales and marketing director David Buys said the installation came at a time of significant expansion for his own company, which plans to hire an additional 60 employees.
“We’re expanding our research and development capabilities and after sales support areas specifically,” Buys said. “For us at Compac, our core values are delivering a superior value solution with the latest technology and then following that up with the best after-sales support in the industry.”
