Compac Sorting Equipment Fruit and Vegetable Sorting and Packing Solutions

Compac Sorting Equipment is an internationally renowned manufacturer of large-scale fruit and vegetable sorting equipment and packing solutions for the fresh produce industry. Founded in 1984, the company has grown from a small supplier of kiwifruit sorting machines to an international manufacturer, supplying customers in over 30 countries worldwide.

Multi-lane sorters for high-speed fruit and vegetable sorting

One of the lead products offered by Compac Sorting Equipment is our range of multi-lane sorters. Designed for use on either pregrading or packing lines, our multi-lane sorters have a wide range of options, enabling companies to tailor their Compac solution to specific production requirements.

Running at up to 800 carriers per minute per lane, our sorters enable high-speed sorting and packing. They also have excellent accuracy, with only 1g standard deviation on 100g when running at 600 carriers a minute.

Compac Sorting Equipment offers excellent customisation to ensure customers have a solution that is perfectly designed to meet their needs. Specific sorter options include pack weight optimisers, which reduce product giveaway; smart produce distribution, which boosts efficiency; outlet display modules and a detailed labelling interface.

There are also a large selection of packing options including trayfillers, pack tables, punnet fillers and gentle box filling systems.

Single and dual-lane flexible sorters

For smaller production lines and as an extension to its multi-lane sorters, Compac offers its single and dual-lane sorters. These are designed to be very flexible, to provide the maximum benefit to companies looking for a multifunctional sorter. Fruit and vegetables can be packed into a large range of packaging types, including tote bags, cartons and punnets, while maintaining strong consistency in appearance and weight.

Single and dual-lane sorters can be installed along with other Compac equipment to provide an overall solution. Many companies choose to have one or two single or dual-lane sorters installed alongside a larger sorter. This provides a flexible, integrated packing solution to complement Compac’s other systems.

Some companies looking to use a single or dual-lane sorter may have space constraints within their packhouse. Compac is focused on reducing these issues by providing the single-lane sorter with packing outlets on both sides of the machine, maximising use without increasing the machine’s footprint.

Fruit and vegetable sorting by size, shape, colour and blemishes

The biggest advantage Compac has over competitors is our highly sophisticated system for measuring produce by size, shape, colour and blemishes. The InVision system, which is available with the majority of our machines, uses images taken by a camera to build a 3D model of each fruit, which enables specific produce to be sorted by weight and appearance.

This system significantly reduces the amount of human labour required for fresh produce sorting, and significantly speeds up the sorting process, as it works at up to 15 pieces per second per lane. The criteria for colour and blemishes can also be adjusted; operators can use an onscreen selection tool to identify specific colours and defects, which can be saved as settings for future sorts.

There are three versions of the InVision system:

• InVision 5000, which has a single camera per lane and sorts based on size, shape and colour only
• InVision 7000, which has an additional camera to allow for surface defect assessment in elongated produce such as kiwis and lemons
• InVision 9000, which has four cameras per lane to provide a complete view of each piece and enable accurate sorting by size, shape, colour and defects

Multi-lane small fruit sorting

Small fruit, such as cherries and cherry tomatoes, requires more delicate sorting to reduce product damage. Compac’s small fruit sorter is specifically designed for this function, and includes a system to grade produce by shape, size and colour.

The machine can sort 600kg of small fruit per hour per lane, and is available with between four and 12 lanes. Larger companies can also operate multiple machines simultaneously using specialised software.

Sorting machinery for large fruit

Compac also produces a large fruit sorter, which is specifically designed for the sorting of mangos and other large or irregular shaped fruits. Based on our multi-lane sorter, this machine uses a roller-carrier system to rotate the fruit while it is being inspected, ensuring accurate sorting.

Designed to sort mangos of between 60mm and 160mm diameter, the machine uses a sweep chute to reduce the speed at which the fruit moves, preventing bruising. An optional pack table feature also adds a packing ability to the system, enabling mangos to be weighed, sorted and packed all on the one machine.

Near infrared fruit sorting solutions

Compac also has a number of other companies designed to aid fruit and vegetable handling, including Taste Technologies, the industry leaders in near infrared (NIR) fruit sorting technology. Taste Technologies manufactures a number of products using NIR technology to non-destructively sort produce based on internal defects, colour and sugar content. This technology gives customers a higher return for premium produce and reduces losses from bad crops.

Fruit handling equipment for picking and packing

Fruit Handling Systems is another Compac-owned company designed to assist the fresh produce industry. Manufacturing a range of dry bin fillers, robotic fillers and stackers, conveyors, bin tippers and infeed systems, the company provides peripheral machinery to aid the packing of fruit and vegetables. Fruit Handling Systems’ machinery is designed to work in conjunction with Compac equipment.