Page 67 - Food&Drink magazine April-May 2023

7 ■ MARCH – APRIL 2023 MACHINERY MATTERS
TOMRA Food takes AI to Fruit Logistica
TOMRA Food highlighted the growing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) to the food industry and demonstrated its wide- ranging solutions with a holographic display at Fruit Logistica Berlin in February.
TOMRA Food treated visitors to its stand with 3D footage of its sorting, grading, and packing solutions in action, demonstrating how the food industry can benefit from AI and machine learning.
The company showcased solutions from both TOMRA
Fresh Food and TOMRA Processed Food. AI is already employed in some of TOMRA’s sorting and grading solutions, and is set to become increasingly important
as a way of improving operational efficiency, reducing food waste, and maximising value. ■
Saving energy with the Nord ECO service
Nord Drivesystems has launched its ECO service, which aims to reveal to companies the hidden optimisation and savings with electric drives, and to help them find the most efficient solution for their application.
According to the company, with the components analysis, consultation and optimisation, the Nord ECO service enables an energy-efficient system design.
“The first step is the comprehensive collection of measurement values,” explained Jorg Niermann, head of marketing at Nord.
“For this purpose, the so-called Nord ECO Box, a mobile inverter cabinet, is connected between the motor and the power supply.
“The Nord ECO Box consists of an energy measuring device with data logger function,
current transformer and cable connections.”
Over a period of about two weeks, the ECO Box records data in real-time about permanent loads, load peaks, and irregular conditions.
Once the survey is completed, the results are uploaded to software developed by Nord that automatically evaluates the data.
Nord offers the ECO service for systems with both its own and third-party components.
“The measurements over time make it possible to create a load cycle for the system. This shows whether a system’s dimensioning corresponds to the requirements of the respective application,” said Niermann.
“We often see drive systems that are oversized for the
corresponding application.”
If a system is driven with the
drive recommended by Nord, the company offers to carry out a measurement.
As part of a total cost of ownership analysis, the most cost – and energy-efficient solutions can then be determined.
For large systems with several drives, such as in intralogistics, the analysis with the Nord ECO service can significantly reduce the number of different drive systems, which helps to minimise administrative costs and streamlines production, logistics, storage and service processes.
Nord offers high-efficiency motors with constant torque over a large speed range, which are ideally suitable for variant reduction. ■
TMHA National Skills Comp returns in 2023
Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) has confirmed the return of its National Skills Competition, which gives the chance for Toyota forklift technicians and apprentices to hone their skills, while competing for valuable prizes.
The 2023 National Skills Competition started in February and runs until May. The winner of both the technician and apprentice challenges will score a free overseas factory tour to one of TMH’s facilities, with possible destinations
including Japan, the US and Sweden. Furthermore, the winning Master Technician walks away with a $5000 cash prize, while second and third place win $2000 and $1000 respectively.
In addition to competing on Toyota forklifts, technicians will also get to compete this year on TMHA’s other product ranges including Huski Construction Equipment and allied products such as sweepers, scrubbers and lift platforms.
TMHA lead technical advisor Luke
Rowley said, “One thing that we’ve noticed is the technicians who enlist in the skills competition year on year – you see the benefits of that in their ability to work under pressure.” ■
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