Key Technology, Inc., a member of the Duravant family of operating companies, and Heat and Control Pty Ltd. announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership to support customers in Australia, New Zealand and India. Under the terms of the agreement, Key has appointed Heat and Control as their exclusive agent to sell and service Key’s high performance digital sorters, vibratory conveyors and other automation systems in Australia, New Zealand and India, effective immediately.

The partnership leverages Heat and Control’s extensive sales and service organization to sell and support all of Key’s equipment in the defined regions, including providing application testing, field service and spare parts. Additionally, Heat and Control will manufacture select Key-designed vibratory conveyors at their facilities in Australia and India in strict accordance with Key’s specifications.

Bringing these two well-established, world-class suppliers together to achieve a common purpose augments both companies’ value propositions and benefits customers. Key Technology’s line of equipment is highly complementary to Heat and Control’s processing and packaging portfolio, giving processors convenient access to a more complete line solution from a single-source. By leveraging Heat and Control’s facilities in Australia and India, Key can better support customers with demonstration and application testing capabilities as well as local manufacturing to reduce shipping and expedite delivery of Key’s products.

“We have a long-standing history with Heat and Control that has now resulted in a collaborative partnership to deliver innovative, optimized solutions to processors in Australia, New Zealand and India,” said Jack Ehren, president of Key Technology. “Together, we can deliver added value to our customers through our combined industry expertise, extensive product offering and strong infrastructure of sales and service organizations.

“The Heat and Control team is excited about this new partnership with Key. Their products complement ours perfectly in terms of their innovation and reliability, yet they offer adjacent capabilities that target the same or similar product applications,” said Jim Strang, CEO – Asia / Pacific, Europe and Africa at Heat and Control. “Key’s equipment, which includes their best-in-class VERYX digital sorters and Iso-Flo vibratory conveyors, is ideal for processors that want to elevate their product quality and food safety while improving efficiencies and yields in an increasingly competitive market.

By adding Key Technology equipment to their product offering in Australia, New Zealand and India, Heat and Control has expanded their already large portfolio of processing and packaging solutions. Heat and Control now provides a wider range of solutions for manufacturers of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, potato products, nuts, snacks, meats, poultry, seafood and other food products in Australia, New Zealand and India.