Unlimited Sorting Possibilities
With effect from 2007 Miedema already works with lean manufacturing. There are enquiries for machines which do not fit into a lean line, namely the specials or combinations. These are the projects Miedema Smart Solutions addresses. An example is the Smart Grader electronic sorter. The development of the Smart Grader started about 10 years ago. At the moment a number of these sorters has already been sold in Europe. And in the meantime the sorting possibilities are unlimited.
Collect Data
"To measure is to know" Jos Broeders says, who is the specialist at Miedema. Miedema is big in the sorting of unwashed seed potatoes. Close to Winsum is a test farm of Miedema, where a Smart Grader is ready to demonstrate. It is possible for (potential) clients to have their own gross product sorted on size and quality. Every potato is read, judged and sorted. Of every sorted potato 40 images are taken by means of infrared and colors. These data are registered and compiled. The sorter prepares after sorting a summary of all quality criteria. Details are available from each sorting exit - about for instance volume, size and weight etc.
Accurate sorting
In 2012, the Smart Grader-408 was built at Sijtsma in Sint Jacobiparochie. The first tests were run in January and in the meantime it works beautifully. The number of this Smart Grader shows that there are 4 reading passages and 8 sorting exits. The exceptional quality of this Smart Grader is that it has been placed on top of six storage bunkers. Sijtsma now sorts about 1,800 tons of seed potatoes, for which only supply and removal of cases needs to be attended to. The Smart Grader is far more precise than the human eye. Not a single spot of damage is missed and sorting on size is exact to 0.1 mm.
Flexible installations
Koelhuis Bergmans also felt up to invest and since recently has a Smart Grader-410. Koelhuis Bergmans is a potato and onion sorting company, where products are sorted and stored on behalf of third parties. With the Smart Grader sorting can be done once and savings can be made on, for instance, working hours, time and money. The special wish of Jan Bergmans was a flexible installation and it should be easy to move. New adjustments at this installation are a high capacity, a vibrating gully and an improved canceling sorting unit. The mantel works is noise suppressing and offers the possibility to have the dust removed by suction. It is expected that the Smart Grader will be operative from September.
