Valka has now begun, in cooperation with First Process, to service the growing salmon industry in Norway.
A new version of the RapidAligner grader has been sold to Vikenco – a Norwegian processor of both farmed and wild caught salmon. The installation of the equipment began at the end of August.
Some of the most novel features of the graders are:
• More automation as the fillets are aligned fully automatically into EPS boxes
• The fillets can be aligned in layers with various specifications from the buyers and plastic film can be placed fully automatically between the layers. Interleaved packing which is very labour intensive has not been automated previously to the best of Valka's knowledge
• The boxes are fed fully automatically to and from the grader
The main advantages for processors are very accurate grading, significant labour savings, absolute minimum give-away, improved quality as all fillets are packed immediately after filleting and the product handling is exceptionally good in the grader.
The patented RapidAligner grader is the result of extensive development carried out by Valka in cooperation with Reykjavík University and now with First Process, Valka's agent in Norway.
The grader minimises the give-away by selecting the right combination of fillets in each box. Quality grading is also possible with the grader. Valka has worked extensively with CADIA of Reykjavik University on developing a new flexible optimisation algorithm which takes into account the special requirements needed for packing salmon fillets – including layered packing,
The new grader can pack big salmon fillets, up to 800mm long, without any reduction in throughput, which is an impressive 45-55 fillets/minute and can easily keep up with the throughput of a filleting machine.
