In response to rising costs and labour shortages, many cherry packers are turning to automated inspection to increase throughput and reduce costs. To this end, cherry packer Stemilt Growers has recently installed an Optyx sorter in its plant in Wenatchee, Washington.
The Optyx sorter uses colour cameras and lasers to inspect the size, shape, colour and structural properties of each cherry, automatically removing foreign matter and fruit with defects. By removing soft fruit, the Optyx ensures hand sorters do not need to touch and roll the fruit - a procedure that can slow inspection and damage good fruit. Removing the soft fruit improves shelf life, which can reduce shrink for packers and retailers and ensure high-quality product for consumers.
Stemilt Growers’ Vice President of Operations, Jay Fulbright, said, “We’ve been operating Optyx 20 hours a day, seven days a week for most of the season, and we’ve been very encouraged with the sorter and with Key Technology as the supplier.”
Key’s specially designed infeed for cherries, which includes a water spreader and dewatering belt, ensures the gentlest handling possible. Proprietary image processing technology allows the sorter to quickly analyse images of each cherry according to previously determined standards. The ejector system, which comprises a series of air jets spanning the width of the system, activates to expel foreign material and substandard cherries, while the quality cherries are discharged into a water flume.
By automatically removing a large proportion of the cull, the Optyx reduces the number of manual sorters required, maximises the volume of product on the line and consistently maintains high product quality. “Optyx gives us the opportunity to process fruit better. We’re using it to sort out major grade defects before hand sorting. It’s allowed us to increase our throughput without increasing labour,” said Fulbright.
Optyx’s bulk flow operation puts it ahead of other cherry sorting systems that use complex material handling equipment to rotate each cherry, and allows it to achieve high volumes. The Optyx 3000 features a 610 mm scan width and sorts between 2.7 and 3.6 t/h. The Optyx 6000, suited to higher volume operations, features a 1220 mm wide scan area and achieves 5.4 to 7.3 t/h throughput.
Optyx’s KeyWare application software is specifically designed for cherry packers and uses terms common to the cherry industry to categorise defects on the user interface. User friendly and easy to master, the icon-based graphical user interface (GUI) reduces operator training and simplifies optimum operation. The GUI can reside locally on the sorter and accessed remotely, making remote factory troubleshooting and application assistance easy.
Stainless steel construction, watertight double-gaskets on doors, a sealed control panel and easy access to areas needing periodic cleaning mean the Optyx operates in harsh environments and withstands high-pressure washdowns.
Featuring a modular design and proven, high-performance connectivity standards such as Camera Link, FireWire and ethernet, Key’s Optyx offers flexibility that ensures forward compatibility to maximise the cherry packer’s long-term return on investment.