Key Technology, a unit of the Duravant operating companies, has launched a new family of Compass food optical sorters. Powered by a next-generation inspection technology knowhow interface, it is promoted as “the easiest to use optical sorter on the market, achieving consistently accurate foreign material and product defect removal and simplifying system operation, sanitation and maintenance.”
“Optical sorting technology has developed significantly over the last decade. Until now, more advanced sorting capabilities meant a system that was also more complex to operate and costly to maintain. Compass is the first sorter that breaks that paradigm – it offers consistently high sort accuracy, a compelling ROI and significantly simpler and more intuitive operation than any other food sorting system,” according to Jack Lee, president of the Downers Grove, Illinois USA-headquartered Duravant Group’s Food Sorting and Handling Solutions division.
Compass is well suited for sorting processed, frozen and pre-processed vegetables, potatoes and fruits, nuts, leafy greens and other food products. Thanks to its advanced sensors and lighting technology, as well as Key’s new NEXT sort engine, Compass accurately identifies and separates plastic, glass, paper and other organic and inorganic foreign material from production lines, in addition to sorting out specific product defects.
The equipment’s intuitive user interface mimics the navigation of smart device apps and enables operators without any technical background to quickly become proficient in using the sorter. Indeed, they can quickly create and edit Compass sort recipes to ensure consistent performances on each product run.
The system features Key Discovery, a data analytics and reporting software that turns the sorter into an IIoT-connected device, delivering a wealth of product quality and sort process information that provides food processors with valuable insights into the operation of their line.
Compass is offered in a configurable range of system types and sizes to meet customer application and capacity requirements. Key is first introducing chute-fed models, to be followed by belt-fed variants of the sorter. Compass can be installed in line at the start of the process to sort incoming product, after critical transformational processes on the line or at the end of the food processing line to ensure final product quality and safety prior to packaging.
