People didn’t start traveling the globe the moment airplanes were invented. Planes simply made it easier to do. We didn’t start enjoying music when vinyl records came along; records simply made it easier for us to listen to our favorite artists and musical styles.
Seed processing technologies are the same; they simply solve long-time challenges people have spent years grappling with.
That said, it can sometimes be hard to recognize where the true innovation is in a technology.
Exploring New Technologies
Seed Cleaning. I still remember working with my first automated Petkus seed cleaner which featured full recipe recall. It was amazing technology that allowed a manager to set up a recipe, then turn it over to an employee who could be of virtually any skill level; the machine took care of the recipe, while the employee simply monitored it. Later we would add a new screen removal system that dramatically reduces screen cleaning time.
Color Sorting. Being able to literally see through seed is something color sorters haven’t been traditionally able to do. A new technology from Petkus using light transmission illuminates the inside of each seed. The machine can analyze seed in real time looking for defects.
Gravity Sorting. Modern gravity tables can combine a middle sort back to the main deck. In one machine, you can do both your primary gravity sort and your rerun middle cut sort. Instead of running a big gravity table backed up by smaller ones, you need only the one main gravity table. These feature recipe recall as well, ensuring the same results every time.
Bagging. With traditional bagging systems, we used to produce 13 bags per minute with six people on one line. Nowadays, with modern bagging systems such as the Premier Tech OML Bagger and APR Palletizer series, we can now produce up to 25 bags per minute with only two people working on the complete line.
In this industry, we often talk about the wonders of new technology, but something we often don’t discuss is how to actually integrate it into people’s daily lives.
Integrating New Technologies
We often get so overwhelmed by new technology that we fail to see the practical benefit and can either invest in technology that won’t be of much use to us, or we pass on technology that could potentially help us a lot.
Our customers are focused on so many levels of the seed itself, that I’ve made it my career to focus only on the process of processing that seed and knowing what will have real benefit for people.
Let’s look at those four examples again to see where the technological breakthrough really lies.
Seed Cleaning. The breakthrough wasn’t just in the computer memorizing the recipe; it was allowing management to better utilize human resources without having upper-level employees monitoring a machine for hours on end.
Color Sorting. Seeing inside of a seed is amazing, but this isn’t just what makes this technology so special. Rather, it’s being better able to sort seeds, thus creating products of the highest quality.
Gravity Sorting. It’s pretty incredible that one gravity table can do the work of two or more, but the real innovation here is eliminating the need to buy so many gravity tables and as a result require more staff to operate them. Recipe recall helps tremendously with this.
Bagging. Modern bagging systems handle more bags of seed, while also requiring fewer people to package more product faster, saving significant manpower, time and costs.
Our team totals 466 years of combined experience integrating technology into agriculture and is backed by a long-standing company that values quality and relationships with its clients.
It’s worth consulting a provider who knows what innovations might make a true difference to your operation, and size it appropriately for your needs.
For info on how to get in touch, visit ptchronos.com/AG
