Have you seen Compac’s DVD?  If not, ask your local sales rep or email us at  info@compacsort.com

Apply now for a password to view the customer area of www.compacsort.com and have online access to:
- Compac Parts Catalogue - Upgrade information - Service information - New features available

www.compacsort.com has been fully translated into Italian, Spanish and French. These languages are easily accessible from anywhere on the site.

Freecall numbers are available for customers to access the Compac Service Teams in Australia and the USA.

Australia Free Call:
1800 682 857

USA Free Call:  
1877 402 1755

PMA Fresh Connections
24 - 26 May 2009
Sydney
AUSTRALIA

ICE Expo
25 June 2009
Hawkes Bay 
NEW ZEALAND

AUS & NZ Avocado Conference
21-24 July 2009
Carins
AUSTRALIA

ASIA FRUIT LOGISTICA
2 - 4 September 2009
HONG KONG

PMA Fresh Summit
2 - 5 October 2009
Anaheim, CA 
USA

MAC FRUT
7 - 9 October 2009
Cesena
ITALY

ANUGA
10 - 14 October 2009
Cologne
GERMANY

For all Near-Infra-Red (NIR) internal defect sorting enquiries contact Nick Cooper at TasteTech 

Phone: +64 9 622 4434
Email: info@tastemark.com
Web:   www.tastemark.com

Taste Tech's NIR cameras

Sizer Software v.9  Upgrade Required

Compac advises that it can no longer support Version 9 and earlier Sizer software and Version 9 or older computers. These systems have been successfully operating for the past 10 years however technology has moved forward. For these older computers it is difficult, and in some cases impossible, to obtain replacement parts.
 
If your older computer fails Compac will be required to replace it with a new computer and our Version 10 system. To avoid potential failure and minimise unscheduled downtime Compac recommends all customers with Version 9 or older systems upgrade to the v.10 Sizer Software System.

For further information contact your local Compac representative

The 7th World Potato Congress was held last week in Christchurch, NZ, with over 500 delegates from around the world converging to discuss the humble spud.

Compac used this event to exhibit leading edge potato sorting technology.

Ken Lee introducing new Service Technician Nick Wong to Compac's blemish grading system.

For the last Compac Innovations Newsletter
click here.

For past Compac Innovations click here.

If you'd like to contribute any information or have any comments please forward them to info@compacsort.com

Compac is one of three Supreme Award finalists  in the 2009 Pricewaterhouse Coopers NZ Hi-Tech Awards.  Competition is very high with the other finalists being Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Orion Health. The winner will be announced at the Gala Awards  Dinner on 1st May. Good Luck Compac.

Fruitful Feedback

It's always good to hear how our sorting systems and technology are making a real difference to our customers - especially after nature has dealt a cruel blow and recovery is key.

Frosts and hail damage can wreck havoc and be disasterous. The costs associated with hand grading large quantities of fruit can be exhorbitant especially if most ends up as juice. This is a comment sent to us by  a much relieved customer in Washington State.

"When we are running hail damaged Grannies, it is a rescue mission that would otherwise be impossible without defect sorting technology. 

I'll explain: One of our packing sheds has a very high capacity presize.... but no defect sorting. They had 30,000 bins of Grannies with at least 50% damage. In our little corner of the world.... that's a write off.

These hail damaged Grannies were sent to another of our packing sheds with a Compac defect sorting system and we chugged through the fruit at 100 bins per hour with minimal labour."

Gillieston Fresh Produce

The installation of 2 new packing lines for Gillieston Fresh Produce has been a landmark project for Compac in Australia. Gillieston are a gourmet tomato grower and packer in Victoria. Initially they planned to use the new Compac 2 lane MLS as the first grade line and the existing older line as their seconds grader. However they were so impressed with the design, specification and benefits of what Compac had to offer, they decided to go ahead and replace all the old dated equipment. Gillieston now have a complete state-of-the-art tomato packing line along with new offices and a new extension to the existing packing shed.

"Now after three months of running their new 2 lane Compac MLS and SLS sizers, both with InVision 5000C (colour grading), the customer is doing a great job and is very happy", says Australia Market Manager, Grant Konias. Both lines have newly designed chutes and carton stands to hold the cartons and RPC crates. The MLS also has pneumatic automatic doors with a CDM display unit at each outlet. These units control the box taring and, when the filling weights are achieved, open and close the pneumatic doors on the carton chutes to release the full box and replace it with an empty one to start the filling cycle over. "With on-site operator training they have picked everything up very well and are doing a great job. Over the next year they will get even better results", says Grant.

Gillieston director, Angelo Borzillo comments, "They are very impressive looking and highly advanced machines. The flexibility of the software gives us many options in determining how we pack our fruit. We are very impressed with the amount of volume that both the SLS and MLS can handle. The added options of weight, size and colour grading gives us more consistency and control over our fruit than ever before, overall it was a very successful first season with Compac."

New Weighing Gentle Box Filler Takes Control

The latest development in the Gentle Box Filler range is a new Weighing Gentle Box Filler. This continuous feed unit operates independently of Sizer control and weighs each box load of fruit before gently lowering it into the carton.

The stand alone weighing system allows for continuous feed of fruit from the Sizer via the trickle feed belt until the pre-set box weight is met. Both the weighing function and trickle feed belt is controlled by the unit's CDM (Compac Display Module) which can be networked to the Sizer PC.  Fruit is accumulated  on the belt while the unit gently delivers fruit to the carton.

As only a single Weighing Gentle Box Filler is required per product (size & grade) this eliminates the need for alternating fruit delivery requiring fewer Box Fillers. This innovative packing unit can also be integrated into Compac's new Carton Handling System.

For further information contact your local Compac sales office

Freestanding Modular Rotary Table

Compac's new freestanding slim profile modular rotary table can be configured for various packing layouts, setups and styles. Unlike standard rotary tables this unit is more versatile and can be easily mounted on the side of an MLS (Multi Lane Sizer). It is ideal for delicate place-pack fruit such as tomatoes, citrus, apples and stonefruit.

The quantity and flow of fruit to the rotary table is controlled by the sizer software which uses table fullness sensors and an SDM (Small Display Module) to provide information. With this packtable it is possible to mount conveyors in various positions and heights and it will support several tray stands (infront/overhead). The slim profile (less than 80mm) allows for a carton conveyer to be installed under the packtable.

Adjustable Tray Stand

This ergonomic adjustable tray stand is pneumatically driven to operate at a working height of 900mm for packing and easily adjusted down to lower full cartons to a conveyor height as low as 400mm.

With the growing demand for flexibility, consistency and customised requirements within the packhouse Compac is now offering a range of software options that are controlled through the Sizer but can be customised and interfaced with other party's software.

Pack Printing
Networked to the Sizer, Compac's pack printing software interfaces with thermal label printers, bar code scanners and the customer's own database. It notifies when packs are complete and enables pack labels, wholesale pack tickets and bin tickets to be automatically generated (or manually, if required). Operators can update batch information and print reports all in real time.   

Carton Tracking
This software tracks individual cartons from the point of packing, to pack printing and throughout its journey around the packhouse until delivery to the palletising area. This software can be used with Compac's new Carton Handling System which significantly reduces the number of printer units required.

Smart Electrics Drive New Carton Handling System

Smart electrical components and systems play a key role in the successful operation of Compac's latest installations of the new  Carton  Handling System.

Electrical control is distributed around the system using 5 small networked computers that take data in from localised sensors and manage equipment in pre-defined areas. These senors drive the pneumatic actuators, blade stoppers and box pushers, and monitor the position of every carton in the system. The PLCs report into a master PLC which co-ordinates and interfaces with the Sizer PC - the smart guy with the total overview of the whole system. It is the Sizer PC which does the carton tracking.

Key benefits are:
• Pre-wiring in the factory results in faster installation and reduced need for electrical contractors
• The system is Modular. The standard panels enable the system to be extended to meet different packhouse configurations
• Decentralised control gives flexibility
• Reduced cabling is more eco-friendly and cost effective
• More efficient fault detection with simpler wiring

Technical Training is Key to Staying on Top

With technology constantly changing and demands for increased productivity ever increasing technical training is essential to stay on top of your game. Whether it is for new operators, or pre-season refresher training courses Compac's small team of highly skilled trainers offer a range of training modules:

• Basic Operation of Sizer and InVision
• Advanced Sizer & InVision Operation to optimise productivity
• Trouble Shooting
• Introduction to new system features
• Pre-season and staff refresher training

Training can be customer specific at your packhouse or at Compac's head office in Auckland. Alternatively Compac's training team hold centralised group sessions in a computer lab environment using simulated machine operations across a variety of produce types, in regional areas around the world.

If you are installing a new machine remember to get the staff training done well in advance so everyone is ready to go on day 1. The value of good training far exceeds the cost of potential downtime.

Compac's Technical Training Team
A very small team of three highly skilled trainers are responsible for the training needs of all Compac customers, technicians and new staff. With technology constantly changing the need for quality ongoing training grows.

Compac's Technical Training Manager is Ken Lee - an aviation expert with a passion for electronics and 6 years at Compac. Ken is responsible for training the service techs, new staff and customer training. He has just returned from a month-long training visit to Compac's Latin American operations, working with our local service technicians improving their knowledge base and skills.

Compac's on-site Vision (Blemish) Trainers - mainly for Kiwifruit, Apples and Citrus, are Mark Burch (Bay of Plenty) and James Kinniburgh-White (Auckland). Their role is to train customers to optimise their machine operations by fully utilising the advanced features of Compac's technology. These 3 guys can be found anywhere in the world that our customers require.

Compac's Service Technicians
Often thrown in the deep end Compac's team of dedicated skilled technicians are renown for their commitment to getting the job done, fixing the problems and getting the site up and running - whatever is required. Based in key areas around New Zealand, Australia, USA, South Africa, China and Latin America - where ever there is a need, Compac's techs will travel there and get the job done.

The first quarter of 2009 has been extremely busy for Compac but none more so than for Compac's Service Team with many new installs around the world and pre-season maintenance. The NZ Apple season is now in full swing while the kiwifruit season is just starting. A bumper crop is forecast. Compac's Service attention is now looking ahead to the Northern Hemisphere summer fruit seasons.

New Staff
Andrew Macintyre - Auckland based Field Service Technician
Nick Wong   - Auckland based Field Service Technician 
Mark Bryant - Bay of Plenty Field Service Technician

Service Team Changes
Paul Ramsom has moved from Field Service into a new role as Solutions Design Engineer.

Mike Ward, another of Compac's highly experienced Technicians, is currently helping out in South Africa so we can  better support our local agents and the increasing number of Compac installations.

Visiting Technicians from the USA
During the busy NZ apple and kiwifruit season we have had Robert and Manuel from Compac's USA California office helping out.

Used Machines
There are currently 2 Used Compac machines available:

1. Compac Single Lane Weight & Color Sorter - Australia
2. Compac 6 Lane Apple Sorter - weight, color & dimension grading – Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Compac Model C Carriers
Black (second hand) - 10,000 units available

For more information see Compac's website or contact your local sales office.