Key Technology, a company in Duravant’s Food Sorting and Handling Solutions group, has introduced its Compass optical sorter for individually quick frozen (IQF) products such as snacks, fruits, vegetables, seafood, poultry, and meat. According to the company, the sorter identifies and removes foreign material (FM) and product defects to protect food safety and final product quality. Reportedly offering simplified operation, cleaning, and maintenance, it is said to be the easiest-to-use optical sorter on the market while offering a quick return on investment.

"On IQF production lines, processors often handle dozens of different products 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,” says Jack Lee, Duravant group president of food sorting and handling solutions. “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.”

Compass reportedly is ideal for whole products, slices, dices and crumbles as well as product mixes. Utilizing in-air inspection, this chute-fed sorter is said to ‘see’ all sides of the product with no blind spots. It detects and rejects plastic, glass, metal, stones, and other FM including extraneous vegetable matter (EVM) like leaves and toxic weeds. Processor-specified product defects are also removed from the line with virtually no false rejects. When inspecting product mixes, the sorter can be programmed to ensure the ingredients are correctly proportioned. Located at the end of the processing line, immediately prior to packaging, this advanced sorter helps ensure final product quality.

The company reports the sorter’s ergonomic user interface resembles smart devices for effortless navigation. Engineered from the ground up to maximize sanitation while simplifying cleaning and maintenance requirements, Compass features an open, washdown-compatible design with easy access for personnel.

Recipe-driven programming is said to ensure consistent sort performance on every product run, which is especially valuable in high-changeover applications. Operators can create new recipes for new products or adjust existing recipes to accommodate product changes without assistance from an application engineer or Key service technician.

Compass features a modular design and is available in multiple sizes to satisfy a wide range of customer applications and capacity requirements. Object-based recognition facilitates sophisticated shape sorting algorithms, while intelligent ejection maximizes sort accuracy and minimizes false rejects.

Every Compass unit is equipped with Key Discovery, a suite of data analytics and reporting software that enables the sorter to collect, analyze, and share data about every object flowing through the system. Key Discovery can reveal patterns and trends that give processors valuable insights into their operations.

Related: Key Technology, PPM Technologies consolidate