WENATCHEE, WA - This cherry season just wouldn’t be the same without Unitec technologies, it seems. 2016 has seen the company provide cutting-edge 48 lane installations at both Orchard View’s packinghouse in The Dalles, Oregon, and The Dalles Fruit’s packinghouse in Dallesport, Washington.

“By using Unitec technologies, we are obtaining significant benefits: more accurate sizing, the ability to defect sort with less manual labor, the ability to detect the internal condition of the cherry with the infrared cameras,” explains Donald Gibson, General Manager of The Dalles Fruit. “This allows us to set softness parameters, which was not possible in the manual sorting system we were using.”

Each installation came equipped with Cherry Vision 2 technology, the innovative Unitec-developed system used for the selection of internal and external quality of cherries. According to a press release, Cherry Vision 2 and automatic package filling system AC_350 allow for high production volumes and a real highpoint for the industry in terms of efficiency. These Unitec technologies provide the benefits of high productivity, efficiency, accuracy, and reliability when sorting and packing.

“We are getting really good results with this Unitec technology in terms of defect removal,” shares David Ortega, one of the owners of Orchard View. “It can sort out things that we never got out before, customers are much happier with the quality of the product they are receiving and our sizing is much more accurate than our old technology.”

These benefits are part of what Unitec says is part of its DNA—continuous innovation and cutting edge solutions that are inspired by the real needs of packing houses, adding that this allows it to bring important improvements in terms of cost reduction, quality selection, and higher efficiency of the packing phases.

“Our clients are growers and the people that buy our cherries. The growers are getting a much better job at sorting, we are able to deliver a better product to our consumers, so I think it’s a win-win,” Gibson adds.

Ortega also agreed that the machine worked well for his company, “It was a huge jump for us, a very large packing line, to go to a 48 lanes which at the time was the largest in the world. For us their machinery worked great. ”

As we hear more from Unitec and the developing cherry season, AndNowUKnow will continue to bring you the latest and greatest.

Unitec