Page 71 - AMEFT Journal 2021-2

Source: Bühler
solution suited to our needs, but the BioVisionTM tech- nology was the perfect remedy to our shell removal problem in particular. Also, in terms of shell removal, improving efficiency, and resorting reject, the early si- gns are good and we can already say that the invest- ment in Sortex will more than pay off!” says Stiegler.
“When we solely handpicked shell from our hazel- nuts, during the roasting process we’d detect around 5-10 pieces of shell in a 50 kg bag of hazelnuts. Since installing our Sortex optical sorter, we’ve asked our hand pickers to check a 50 kg bag of hazelnuts that has been freshly sorted by the Sortex machine and we are happy to confirm that we have not found a single shell. In 400 kg, approximately 1-3 pieces of shell will now be found,” Stiegler states.
Since investing in Sortex, the company’s handpicking workers have been re-assigned across various other processing steps. With a more even distribution of manpower, the process of achieving the end product is now reached much quicker than before. “Our workday is much better organized now which allows us to reach maximum levels of productivity,” Stiegler adds.
Higher efficiency and resorting reject
Before investing in Sortex, the company was sorting 100 kg of hazelnuts in a day with the help of two to three hand pickers. “Today we are able to sort 800 kg in 2.5 hours with just one person to set up the sor- ter and put the product into the machine, as we don’t have a conveying system. That’s an outstanding impro- vement in efficiency for us,” says Stiegler.
Like many hazelnut processors, FrankenGeNuss also cracks its hazelnuts in-house. During this process, de- pending on the calibration, processors can often find that their nuts break into pieces or halves. These bro- ken pieces are typically pre-sorted with air pressure but because they weigh the same as the undesired fragments of shell it makes it difficult to differentiate between them. As a result, the hazelnut pieces are at risk of being mistakenly being discarded.
“With the Sortex optical sorter and its simultaneous resort functionality, we have the opportunity to resort our reject again without losing any valuable nuts in the process. This also allows us to adhere to food safety standards and get the most out of our hazelnuts for maximum profits,” adds Stiegler.
Stiegler concludes “Once our hazelnut trees reach their 12th birthday, we expect to be processing over 60-80 tons per year. That is when we will be able to run higher capacities through the Sortex sorter and see its true potential.” Regarding the company’s rela- tionship with Bühler, he said “We believe in Bühler’s complete solution for hazelnut processing so they will forever remain a close ally as we continue to expand our business and product portfolio.”
TECHNOLOGY & SUSTAINABILITY
www.ameft.com
AMEFT 2 2021 71
Source: Bühler