Tong launches new data technology at BP2015

Tong Engineering will be promoting its latest range of new potato grading and handling technologies at this year’s British Potato event in Harrogate on 12th and 13th November. We are always investing in the latest new data technology.

As official sponsors of the event, Tong will be present in Hall M, stand M6. Alongside a special limited anniversary edition of its market-leading EasyFill box filler, Tong will be launching its new data capture technology which will now be offered as an option on new models of Tong’s box filling equipment.

The new data capture module has been designed to offer enhanced features to Tong’s popular box weighing platforms, and works by scanning barcodes on boxes and subsequently recording vital crop statistics, enabling accurate and automated collation of crop information in real time.

« Whilst we have offered integrated weigh platforms as an option on our EasyFill twin box filler and single box fillers for several years, allowing growers and packers to fill boxes to a predetermined weight, the new data capture module offers a means of recording even more data relating to each box’s contents than ever before, » explains Edward Tong, Managing Director of Tong Engineering.

The new box scanners automatically record each box’s identity and assign crop statistics including the box weight and grade size of crop, as well as time-stamping when the information is recorded. The new technology also assigns traceability information from the crop’s load reference data, including details such as batch number, grower and variety. All data relating to that box is then automatically sent via ethernet connection to the operator’s SQL stock-control database, making stock control much more efficient and accurate, whilst allowing each box to be fully traceable to its source.

“Our new data capture technology is taking stock control for potato growers and packers to the next level,” explained Edward Tong, Managing Director of Tong Engineering. “It removes the need for manual recording of box contents, increasing the accuracy of crop data, and automatically communicating this back to the stock database.”

“What’s particularly invaluable about the new technology, is that data is recorded and communicated to stock control systems in real time, making it very easy for growers and packers to see what stock they have at any given time. This allows for a much more efficient stock control process, ensuring growers and packers get even more value from their crop to meet a wide variety of contract demands,” added Edward.

Just across from Tong’s main stand in Hall M, as UK distributor for Swiss-based Visar Optical Sorting equipment, Tong will also be demonstrating, alongside Visar, the company’s new optical potato sorter on stand M20. Following the success of Visar’s award-winning optical carrot sorter, the Visar Sortop potato sorter uses an infra-red HD camera to achieve a perfect 360 degree image of each and every potato that passes through the sorting machine, offering unrivalled potato sorting capabilities. “Visar’s new potato sorter offers exceptionally accurate optical potato grading and we are very pleased to unveil the machine to the UK market, in action at BP2015,” commented Edward.

« From our market leading Caretaker mobile grader to advanced potato grading and washing facilities, we continuously develop our equipment to offer handling solutions that save costs and increase productivity. We are celebrating 85 years of engineering in 2015 and look forward to celebrating our 85th anniversary and discussing the latest industry developments with growers and packers at BP2015,” added Edward.