TOMRA 5C sorter wins the machine category award in the Japan Food Journal Awards

Last week, the TOMRA 5C premium sorter was granted the machine category award in the annual Japan Food Journal Awards. 

At the official awards ceremony at the Daiichi Hotel in Tokyo, Mr. Eizo Oda, Chairman of the Japan Food Distribution Association, handed the prize to Steven Van Geel, TOMRA Processed Food’s Regional Sales Director for the APAC region. The event’s guest of honor was Japan’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Mr. Tetsuro Nomura.

Today, in their 25th year, the Japan Food Journal Awards highlight products that contribute to the development of the food industry through innovation. The TOMRA 5C optical sorter won this award because it sets new industry standards in efficiency, accuracy, and ease of use by utilizing AI technology and digital tools.

Steven Van Geel commented that this honor is important to the company, not only in Japan, where the food industry standards are exceptionally high, but also throughout the APAC region, where various food companies supply their products to Japan.

Sophisticated detection technologies

The TOMRA 5C has entered this June in Japan and other markets in the Asia Pacific region after first being showcased in Europe and the U.S. Initially destined to sort dried fruit and nuts, the machine was calibrated for sorting frozen fruit and veg. It performs the highest sorting accuracy by combining sensors and high-resolution lasers with the BSI+ (Biometric Signature Identification) technology, big-data analysis, and AI machine learning.

The BSI+ guarantees each object passing down the processing line is assessed for shape, color, and biological characteristics. By looking inside materials with spectral imaging, BSI+ contrasts good and bad materials and detects smaller defects than average spectral technology.

With AI machine learning, the TOMRA 5C continues to improve its accuracy in finding defects. In addition, AI empowers defect classification software, including the button-activated “magic wand”, a feature which enables operators to set new sorting programmes with an accuracy previously only achievable by service engineers.

Connecting the TOMRA 5C to the cloud-based data platform TOMRA Insight enables big-data analysis. By accessing live data from the sorter, users can make quick improvements to line efficiencies. And by accessing data retrospectively, they can quantify the standards of raw materials from suppliers and make business decisions based on real data.

Another digital tool that helps operators increase machine performance and achieve more uptime is Visual Assist. With a smartphone or Smart Glasses, and augmented reality, TOMRA’s specialists can carry out remote support to a customer or Field Service Engineer. TOMRA Visual Assist is also utilized for delivering training.

While sorting dried fruit and nuts, the TOMRA 5C guarantees elimination of foreign materials, cross-contamination, and the smallest defects. Sorting nuts, it recognizes and eliminates shells, peewee in-shell, gummies, testa, skin marks, stink bugs, butterballs, allergens and more. For processing frozen fruit and veg, the TOMRA 5C is located on the processing line between the IQF tunnel and packing station to carry out final checks for product quality and food safety. This eliminates remaining foreign material and hard-to-detect product defects.

If you wish to upgrade to sorters by TOMRA, please send your inquiry and obtain more information