A sorter located after a transformational process can collect data to control the upstream process. At the front of the line, analyzing the quality of incoming product by lot or by supplier enables a payment scheme that rewards higher quality. There are almost as many examples of how Information Analytics can be used to improve operations as there are food processors. By analyzing the information and generating useful reports, raw data becomes knowledge that is harnessed to better manage incoming raw materials and optimize processes upstream and downstream of the sorter to achieve the next level in operational efficiencies. Highly customizable and ever expanding, specific product data categories of interest can be identified by plant managers from all the available real-time data. The ease of harnessing large amounts of valuable data on a digital sorter is rapidly improving, and with larger data sets comes the opportunity to cultivate more valuable insights and actionable information. To be an effective smart device within the Industry 4.0 framework, the flexibility to support a variety of data formats and connectivity protocols is essential. Equipped with an OPCUA-compliant infrastructure, sorters can seamlessly integrate with virtually any factory automation system to share data and can leverage IIoT to facilitate remote access via a secure portal. Their powerful computers can continuously collect and analyze information about the sort process and the product flowing through, whether that data is used to make sort decisions or not. They’re able to ‘see’ 100 percent of the product on the line, recognizing color, size, shape, structural properties and chemical composition, depending on the cameras and/or laser sensors in use.
Powered by Industry 4.0 methodologies and IIoT (the Industrial Internet of Things), modern sorters are increasingly being utilized as data centers at the same time they sort product and are uniquely qualified to contribute to the data revolution. We will also be sharing our recommended spare parts lists for our sorting, conveying and rotary size grading equipment. In this edition of the Service Advisor we will be exploring how a sorter can collect, analyze and share big data across a processor’s enterprise to reveal patterns, trends and associations that help optimize operations and create a competitive edge. With redesigned mechanical architectures, next-generation sensor technology and intelligent new software, today’s state-of-the art sorters achieve these goals better than ever before – and they do much more. The primary objective of a digital sorter has always been to remove all foreign material (FM) and the right amount of product defects to make grade while minimizing false rejects so the food processor optimizes product quality and maximizes yield.
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