Case Study
A California Almond Processor Has Reduced the Need for Hand Sorters with Borde Inspect
The Challenge
A California almond processor faced high labor costs and operational inefficiencies due to large amounts of critical foreign material still reaching their hand sorting tables. Despite having optical sorting and x-ray systems in place, contaminants such as plastics, metal, glass, sticks, rocks, and allergens continued to make it downstream. Preventing recalls required extensive hand sorting labor, driving up operational expenses. After installing their Borde Inspect System, the processor wanted to harness its real-time inspection capabilities to reduce the foreign material load reaching manual sorting and protect product integrity.
The Solution
The processor created a unique integration between their Borde Inspect System and an unused rejection chute on the bucket elevator ahead of the hand sorting room. Positioned behind both the optical sorter and x-ray, Borde Inspect serves as the final line of defense by inspecting and grading every almond in real time. When the system detects critical foreign material, it instantly triggers a downstream rejection gate, diverting only the affected product. The QC team can then quickly isolate the rejected material, remove contaminants, and return the cleaned product to the main flow. This targeted, automated rejection dramatically reduces the volume of contaminated product reaching hand sorting tables.
The Benefits
- Significant reduction in critical foreign material reaching hand sorting tables
- Lower recall risk due to improved contaminant detection and targeted removal
- Major decrease in required hand sorting labor and associated costs
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