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Next generation platform Inspectra2: giving new opportunities for packhouses to consistently and accurately grade external and internal characteristics of fresh produce
New opportunities for packhouses are open now with Compac next generation platform Inspectra 2 to consistently and accurately grade external and internal characteristics of fresh produce including apples, kiwifruit, citrus and avocados at production speeds.
The development of Inspectra2™ has been announced by New Zealand’s Compac within a year of its acquisition by global food sorting leader TOMRA and has been just presented to global fresh fruits and vegetables community at PMA Fresh Summit 2017 in New Orleans, USA.
Andrew McQueen, Senior Product Manager at Compac explains that the new next generation platform Inspectra2™ uses a spectrometer to measure light absorption as an indicator of internal properties and defects without touching the produce.
“There is a lot of value to be gained for the packhouse by accurately measuring the internal properties of each piece of produce. Inspectra2™ is designed for flexible application, capable of measuring properties such as sugar content (brix in citrus), dry matter (on kiwifruit and avocados) and internal defects (for apples).”
Andrew McQueen continues: “The focus for Inspectra2™ has been improving the consistency and usability of our NIR technology. By replacing almost 80% of the hardware, we are opening a number of new doors for what is possible in software. When released next year, we plan for operators to be able to regularly train their systems to match the changing fruit conditions, resulting in improved performance with significantly less effort. Like Spectrim, this generational step will allow us to continue adding incremental value over the coming years.”
The ability to detect these properties for each individual fruit allows packers to protect and enhance brand value by creating premium products. Inspectra2™ also helps optimize the supply chain by improving orchard yield and reducing food waste during storage and transport. As the second-generation of Compac’s proven internal grading technology, Inspectra2™ was created with usability at the forefront of its design an improved user interface with streamlined modeling and calibration makes Inspectra2™ significantly easier to operate and manage than its predecessor.
McQueen says: “A fruit’s external appearance is important for the first purchase by consumers, but for repeat purchases, a complete experience is vital. That means the fruit must taste as good as it looks – and that is why our customers will use Inspectra2™ to ensure a positive experience with consumers and ultimately protect their brand,” McQueen concludes.
Inspectra2™ has already successfully passed internal testing and is launching in the first half of 2018 ready to be shipped from the middle of 2018. Next generation platform could be explored more deeply at Fruit Logistica 2018 in Berlin.
For contact:
Perry Sansom – VP Marketing, Compac
+64 21 404 040
