A Yield Control Solution for Soleco

Jan 2012:

Marco have gained an important order for their Yield Control System with Soleco, one of Europe’s leading supplier of freshly prepared pre-packed salads, vegetables and fruit. Soleco’s extensive product range is marketed under the well known Florette brand and the new system will be installed at their factory at Lessay, in the Basse-Normandie region of France.

Consumer demand for so-called convenience, pre-packaged fresh produce has increased dramatically over the past five years, bringing significant challenges for suppliers. The Marco Yield Control Module (YCM) will be used for the high speed manual packing of a diverse range of fresh produce including cauliflower florettes, radishes and tomatoes as well as prepared fruit such as apple, melon and pineapple.

Packers of fresh produce have to strike a balance between speed and accuracy, whilst ensuring consistent high quality presentation. This can be particularly difficult where individual constituent products vary in size, weight and shape. As a result, over-packing is a common problem in such environments, with packers wanting to ensure they meet ‘e’ weighing regulations. However over-pack has a direct impact on overall profitability. The Marco YCM has been specifically designed to de-skill the packing operation, whilst reducing over-pack to fractions of a gram. Additional important benefits include improved productivity, better stock control and minimised waste.

The Marco system for this installation is based on the ‘take-away’ principle, whereby operators remove product from larger weighed containers and place it in the individual trays. The operators are guided by a simple traffic light system, which rapidly takes them through each portion weighing. Marco’s intuitive automatic optimization software operates continually in the background, subtly adjusting target weights to ensure consistent pack weights with minimum giveaway.