Key Technology, a member of the Duravant family of operating companies, Walla Walla, Wash., introduced VERYX digital sorters equipped with patented Sort-to-Grade software for both wet and frozen potato strips.

While VERYX targets all foreign material for removal, Sort-to-Grade recognizes and categorizes every surface defect and the dimensional characteristics of each individual strip and makes an accept/reject decision based on how it will impact the aggregate “in the bag” grade as defined by the processor.
 
When the target grade permits a certain measure of minor defects to be present, a VERYX Sort-to-Grade sorter will pass only the allowed amount of that defect type. By controlling the quality of the output to a defined grade, Sort-to-Grade ensures the final product specification is consistently met. The intelligent Sort-to-Grade software algorithms operate fully automatically, eliminating the need for manual adjustments and dramatically reducing the need for operator intervention.
 
Sort-to-Grade can profile the length of each potato strip as well as any surface defects that may appear on the potato strip. VERYX with Sort-to-Grade can be programmed to reject strips that are too short or too long for the grade, while managing the distribution of strip lengths within multiple user-defined categories between those two absolutes. If the grade allows for a given percentage of all strips to be between X and Y in length, another percentage to be between Y and Z in length and so on, Sort-to-Grade will make accept/reject decisions to deliver exactly the required length profile.
 
Additional features include an advanced recipe-driven operation, which sorts recipes, including the definitions and acceptable volumes of specific surface defects and the desired distribution of strip lengths for every customer grade specification. It also enables operators to switch to run a different grade at the touch of a button.

Key Technology, Inc.
509-529-2161
www.key.net