{"id":4670,"date":"2018-05-01T23:53:52","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T23:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test-key-technology.pantheonsite.io\/en\/?post_type=news&p=4670"},"modified":"2023-04-07T23:55:08","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T23:55:08","slug":"blueridge-produce-cultivates-quality-and-efficiency-with-veryx","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.key.net\/en\/news\/blueridge-produce-cultivates-quality-and-efficiency-with-veryx\/","title":{"rendered":"Blueridge Produce Cultivates Quality and Efficiency with VERYX"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blueridge Produce cleans and packs millions of pounds of fresh blueberries in an 8- to 12-week season. To increase production efficiencies and reduce labor while maintaining the highest product quality, they installed a VERYX\u00ae<\/sup>digital sorter from Key Technology. Tailored especially for Blueridge Produce, this sorter removes color defects and soft fruit as well as foreign material (FM) such as stems, leaves, metal, glass, rocks, paper, plastic and rubber of any color.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWe wanted a sorter that could handle more than 10,000 pounds of product per hour with at least 95 percent accuracy. Our priorities were speed and precision at a cost effective price. We decided Key\u2019s VERYX C140 was right for us,\u201d said Rhonda Driediger, the general manager of Blueridge Produce. \u201cWe replaced 12 sorters with this one VERYX. At the same time, we increased our throughput by 35 percent and reduced approximately 30 manual labor positions, because we no longer have to rely on hand sorting after digital sorting to achieve our high product quality standards.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

VERYX is a family of belt- and chute-fed digital sorters that come in a variety of widths to accommodate small- to high-capacity production environments. The modular design enables each system to be configured to match each processor\u2019s exact requirements with the ideal sensor types, sensor positions, lighting, ejection system, product handling and software to sort by color, size, shape and\/or structural properties, as needed. The VERYX C140, which Blueridge Produce selected, is Key\u2019s highest capacity chute-fed sorter. It\u2019s equipped with front- and rear-mounted laser scanners to view product from both sides.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIn addition to removing foreign material and color defects, our VERYX removes soft fruit \u2013 the bane of our existence. People can only find soft spots by touching every berry so hand sorting isn\u2019t effective. Automated \u2018soft\u2019 sorters with pads or fingers touch berries in only one place, so they\u2019re not completely thorough,\u201d explained Driediger. \u201cThe lasers on our VERYX sorter recognize soft fruit accurately, as well as foreign material and color defects, at incredibly high speeds.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cPrior to VERYX, we had six color sorters and six \u2018soft\u2019 sorters in-line removing foreign material, berries with color defects and soft fruit. When a sorter went down, the whole line went down. We wanted to remove these bottlenecks and improve our efficiency,\u201d noted Driediger. \u201cNow, with one VERYX, we\u2019re able to sort all of our fresh blueberries at receiving instead of sorting on each packaging line.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Another important consideration when maximizing the quality of fresh berries is gentle handling. With VERYX, Key brings an expertise in both sorting and product handling to minimize impact and avoid bruising fragile fruit. Designed specifically for Blueridge Produce, an Iso-Flo\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0vibratory infeed conveyor spreads and singulates the product for presentation to the sorter. Next, Key\u2019s patented Chycane\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0chute, a concave-shaped slide inside VERYX, stabilizes the berries as they enter the inspection and ejection zones to produce a predictable trajectory, which increases defect and FM removal while minimizing false rejects to improve product quality and maximize yield.<\/p>\r\n

To ease use, VERYX includes smart features such as auto-learning, self-adjustment algorithms, predictive system diagnostics and smart alarms. These advanced features enable the sorter to adapt to changes in the product and environment and operate at peak performance without operator intervention during normal production.<\/p>\r\n

To simplify training, Key developed an intuitive user interface that provides different views to users of various levels, depending on their needs. Recipe-driven operation and repeatable system calibration ensure consistent performance and enable Blueridge Produce to run a new product or grade at the touch of a button. Operator qualification requirements are reduced, allowing a manually-skilled operator to become a proficient user of the technology in less than one hour.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWe had experience working with Key long before we purchased VERYX. We knew they\u2019d be very engaged with us,\u201d said Driediger. \u201cWe have a Key Optyx\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0sorter in our IQF facility. We bought it used and asked Key to audit it and train us. We were impressed with their commitment. They don\u2019t just sell you something \u2013 they have a long term view of engineering, programming and service. Key is highly receptive to our feedback. We\u2019re getting absolutely great customer service.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWe want to be on the leading edge \u2013 always improving and looking for innovative technology that will produce our high quality products while saving money and labor,\u201d concluded Driediger. \u201cVERYX will revolutionize fresh pack blueberry sorting with its high speed and accuracy.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

For more information on Key\u2019s VERYX, visit\u00a0https:\/\/www.key.net\/products\/other\/<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

About Key Technology, Inc.<\/h3>\r\n

Key Technology is a global leader in the design and manufacture of automation systems including digital sorters, conveyors and other processing equipment. Applying processing knowledge and application expertise, Key helps customers in the food processing and other industries improve quality, increase yield and reduce cost. Key manufactures its products at its headquarters in Walla Walla, Washington, USA; Beusichem, the Netherlands; Hasselt, Belgium; and Redmond, Oregon, USA. Key offers customer demonstration and testing services at five locations including Walla Walla, Beusichem, and Hasselt as well as Sacramento, California, USA and Melbourne, Australia; and maintains a sales and service office in Santiago de Queretaro, Mexico.<\/p>\r\n

About Duravant<\/h3>\r\n

Headquartered in Downers Grove, IL, Duravant is a global engineered equipment company with manufacturing, sales and service facilities throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Through their portfolio of operating companies, Duravant delivers trusted end-to-end process solutions for customers and partners through engineering and integration expertise, project management and operational excellence. With worldwide sales distribution and service networks, they provide immediate and lifetime aftermarket support to all the markets they serve in the food processing, packaging and material handling sectors. Duravant\u2019s market-leading brands are synonymous with innovation, durability and reliability. Visit www.duravant.com.<\/p>","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-4670","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.key.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/4670"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.key.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.key.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.key.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.key.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}