The Dole fruit company has a machine that can sort fresh pineapples, oranges and other fruits. The machine sorts the fruit by color, size and degree of ripeness. The company says each machine is capable of sorting about 2,000 pounds (0.91 metric tonnes) each hour.
Despite this impressive production rate, the company recently announced plans to nearly double its pineapple production in the coming years. It's preparing to install three more machines over the next few years, resulting in an estimated increase of up to 350 percent in the company's fruit-sorting capabilities by 2011. To handle this surge in production, Dole will be adding more than three additional acres of land at its Florida City facility.
The cost of installing the new sorting machine is astronomical, but the increase in production capabilities is well worth it. The company pays roughly $550 per pound for each pineapple it sells at retail. If it can double that amount within five years, and produce almost all of its fruit every year, the rent on the extra land will clearly pay for itself.
But the increased production rate is a product of an entirely different decision that Dole took nearly a decade ago. In the mid-1990s, the company decided to improve its fruit-sorting capabilities by purchasing completely new sorting technology. As such, its only really needed more space to install and run these high-tech gadgets.
The main sorting machine will be used primarily for orange and tangerine oranges, which are two of Dole's most popular varieties. The other two fruits in question are pineapples and strawberries.
Here are some Dole-provided images of their new fruit-sorting machine:
Dole's pineapple sorting machine
Dole's strawberry sorting machine
The company says these machines will greatly increase the appearance of freshness to the fruit they process. A high-tech camera is used to determine how ripe the fruit is, and it then transmits this information to the sortation area, where all the fruits pass underneath a conveyor belt, which sorts them into separate bins.
This is exactly what Dole hoped would happen - and all it took was a little more fruit, a lot more money and the willpower to take a chance on new technology.
ARTICLE END
The Dole fruit company has a machine that can sort fresh pineapples, oranges and other fruits. The machine sorts the fruit by color, size and degree of ripeness. The company says each machine is capable of sorting about 2,000 pounds (0.91 metric tonnes) each hour. Despite this impressive production rate, the company recently announced plans to nearly double its pineapple production in the coming years. It's preparing to install three more machines over the next few years, resulting in an estimated increase of up to 350 percent in the company's fruit-sorting capabilities by 2011. To handle this surge in production, Dole will be adding more than three additional acres of land at its Florida City facility. The cost of installing the new sorting machine is astronomical, but the increase in production capabilities is well worth it. The company pays roughly $550 per pound for each pineapple it sells at retail.. If it can double that amount within five years, and produce almost all of its fruit every year, the rent on the extra land will clearly pay for itself. But the increased production rate is a product of an entirely different decision that Dole took nearly a decade ago. In the mid-1990s, the company decided to improve its fruit-sorting capabilities by purchasing completely new sorting technology. As such, its only really needed more space to install and run these high-tech gadgets. The main sorting machine will be used primarily for orange and tangerine oranges, which are two of Dole's most popular varieties. The other two fruits in question are pineapples and strawberries. Here are some Dole-provided images of their new fruit-sorting machine: Dole's pineapple sorting machine Dole's strawberry sorting machine The company says these machines will greatly increase the appearance of freshness to the fruit they process. A high-tech camera is used to determine how ripe the fruit is, and it then transmits this information to the sortation area, where all the fruits pass underneath a conveyor belt, which sorts them into separate bins. This is exactly what Dole hoped would happen - and all it took was a little more fruit, a lot more money and the willpower to take a chance on new technology. Editor's Note: For those interested in the technicalities of sorting by color, size and ripeness, I thought it would be useful to provide one example scenario that might explain how this process can take place.
Imagine you have a pineapple cutting machine with two bands of different sizes. At the center of each band is a blade that cuts into the fruit without error and without damaging it. As the pineapple moves slowly through the machine, it is cut by the first band into two equal halves. One half then travels to one side and the other to the other (the same way a saw blade cuts wood).
Now imagine there are two separate cameras, which each take photographs of each half as they pass through the machine. Using the photographs, a computer is able to tell which half comes from which band. If this same method is used for strawberries, it will be possible to determine with certainty that each half was cut from one of the two different bands.
Dole's new sorting machine is a product of its fruit-sorting capabilities and is currently used by other companies as well.
Read more: Dole pineapple machine near me