Packhouse Academy is the innovative training resource for the fresh produce industry.

TOMRA Food presents the online learning resource for packhouse specialists in the fresh produce industry. Packhouse Academy offers a great variety of live interactive webinars, on-demand videos and training modules, aiming to develop industry-critical skills, in turn helping packhouses boost their productivity, pack-out and quality. 

The mission. Packhouse Academy will enable businesses to overcome skills shortages in machine management and other specific packhouse roles. A good machine operator lets a packhouse maximize contribution in technology for better profitability, but until now, a lack of training pathways has normally meant packhouses themselves had to teach their staff how to set up and operate machinery for best results. 

Now, Packhouse Academy enables it to keep pace with evolving technology by maintaining necessary skills for competitive advantage. The training is held via a personalized learning portal, making it possible for individuals to study at their own dynamic by using their laptop, mobile device or desktop, at a time and place which suits them best.

Roydon Adlam, Global Customer Training Manager of TOMRA Fresh Food, said that Packhouse Academy’s goal is to provide each packhouse team member with appropriate knowledge and experience. It is a possibility for them to develop their careers and get professional certificates, proving their qualification. They expect that the courses on operators’ skills and new software releases will have the highest demand.

Packhouse Academy’s Tier 1 content is free to access, it helps to build basic industry background, and covers guidelines to operate TOMRA Food equipment. 

Tier 2 premium content is available for paid subscribers. Tier 2 content complements, and sometimes replaces for, the Instructor-Led Training (ILT) workshops at TOMRA Food’s 7 training centers and on-site training at customers’ premises.

Packhouse Academy offers a selection of 75 courses, each with a duration of 5 to 7 minutes, with bundles of 3 or more courses forming 7 different learning paths. Courses can be taken and completed at a flexible time frame chosen by a student. Knowledge checkpoints and scores enable it to monitor studying progress. At the end of each course a student receives a downloadable personalized certificate. 

Course content offers such topics as the responsibilities, tasks, and skills required by packhouse operations; optimizing packhouse production capabilities; packhouse safety; packhouse sanitation; good manufacturing practices; new software and new products; setting-up and optimizing sorting and grading equipment; and troubleshooting. 

The learning paths respond packhouse standards; sizer operations and troubleshooting; sizer operations at morning start-up; sizer operations and maximizing performance; an introduction to Spectrum (the optical sorting platform); an introduction to Inspectra (the internal inspection system for fresh products); and sanitation and cleaning of TOMRA Food equipment.  

To learn more about Packhouse Academy follow the link

TOMRA Food is a producer of sensor-based sorting machines and integrated post-harvest equipment for the food industry. The company uses one of the world’s most advanced grading, sorting, peeling and analytical technology.

Their main goal is to help their customers to improve returns, gain operational efficiencies, minimise food waste, ensure quality and a safe food supply with sustainable technologies. 

Their solutions are installed at food growers, packers and processors around the world. This allows businesses to maximise productivity and recovery rates, while reducing food waste and developing the overall quality of the produce.

For further information about TOMRA, please see their website.