Global food processing machinery manufacturer, Key Technology, has introduced its new Compass optical sorter, for individually quick frozen (IQF) products such as fruits, vegetables, seafood, poultry and meat.
Key, a subsidiary of engineering equipment company Duravant, has launched what it describes as the easiest-to-use optical sorter on the market. Compass identifies and removes foreign material and product defects to protect food safety and product quality.
Utilising in-air inspection, Compass’s chute-fed sorter detects and rejects plastic, glass, metal, stones and other foreign material including extraneous vegetable matter, like leaves and toxic weeds. When inspecting product mixes, it can also be programmed to ensure the ingredients are correctly proportioned.
Compass features a modular design and is available in multiple sizes for a range of customer applications and capacity requirements. Every unit is equipped with Key Discovery, a suite of data analytics and reporting software that enables the sorter to collect and analyse system data, and reveal patterns and trends that give processors operational insights.
Duravant Group president – food sorting and handling solutions, Jack Lee, said that processors often handle dozens of different products on IQF production lines, and change over several times a day.
“Optical sorters for these applications require a great degree of flexibility and must maintain high accuracy despite significant product changes,” said Lee.
“Compass’s intuitive user interface and straightforward recipe-driven programming means even entry-level workers with no technical background can easily operate this system to achieve peak performance.”
Key has a global service team, including an office in Victoria. More information on Compass and the company’s other solutions can be found at key.net.
