Compac, part of TOMRA Food, has launched the Sizer Simulator, a unique simulation tool that enables packhouses to upskill operators and prepare for incoming fresh produce.
Sizer Simulator also enables users to optimize packing efficiency by extracting maximum performance from existing equipment.
“The Sizer Simulator eliminates the risks of tweaking software on a live production run, empowering operators to experiment with settings until they’ve truly optimized equipment performance,” said Gopi Ravi, Product Manager at Compac.
“In an industry where success depends on the ability to manage margins, this provides a unique competitive advantage.”
Sizer Simulator creates a digital replica of the existing packhouse infrastructure allowing optimization of machine set-up and processes in a virtual environment.
Packhouses traditionally apply the same software parameters for each variety as they did in the previous season, fearing that altering settings may lead to inefficiencies. This prevents making continuous improvements whose cumulative value can be significant.
The Sizer Simulator tackles this head-on, allowing operators to run no-risk trials of new setups to analyze opportunities for improving yield and packing efficiency.
Sizer Simulator can use real data recorded from the sorter during previous runs. Simulator users can re-run the same 'virtualized' fresh produce as many times as they like, to assess the impact of adjustments made to the software.
See this article in Tree Fruit Dec 2018
