I bet you've been wondering where we had got to....

Newmafruit just can't get enough of us and the feeling is mutual. Not long after they have installed an iFA system for their existing Geosort grader, they go and purchase a new Combisort too, replacing their faithful servant of an MSE. Fear not though, we never put a good grader down and pledge find it a new forever home somewhere.

The new Combisort will jump in the grave of the MSE as it sits exactly where it used to, but with 6 lanes instead of 4. This increases capacity of the machine but more importantly gives them increased longevity, whilst the design also allows for modular increases if they decide to uproot it and move it into roomier surroundings. The old machine was fed by a BURG POLS-AP infeed and the new one will too. We love it when our suppliers work seamlessly together and our customers do too.

This new machine means Newmafruit will continue to be able to efficiency and gently grade pears and Bramley for many years to come (as well as apples). We hope to have many more articles dedicated to Newmafruit in the future and would like to thank them for our ongoing partnership.

In the meantime, click the link below for a wonderfully informative video about the Combisort:

Mansfields continue to headline our Product News page, this time with the installation of a GREEFA pre-sizer with some packing thrown on the end for good measure. This extensive project replaces the existing MAF RODA machine that is incapable of doing pears and finally brings all top fruit production under one roof at their West Site. This 8 lane GREEFA Combisort machine is fed apples or pears by a top class infeed, sorted and subsequently distributed to one of the 16 water channels or packing lines. If fed to the water channels, they're accumulated in the short water canals and inserted into a bin by a very clever, and very gentle vacuum system. Finally, a robot takes the filled bins and stacks them in their respective place ready for storage.

This project is in keeping with the modern trend of pre-sizing fruit for dedicated packing lines, 5 of which Mansfields already have; 3 were recently installed. This system increases efficiency of packing but also reduces giveaway, potentially allowing for the abolition of processes at end of line, such as check weighing.

This project was as mentioned above, to bring all top fruit under one roof, thus reducing unnecessary movement of fruit. The ongoing plan of Lee Port is coming together nicely and this is but a further piece of the puzzle. Retaining GREEFA as the supplier of the grader is very savvy as Mansfields already have a GREEFA Geosort machine, so there will be no learning lag with the program of the new machine. The planning of the project was undertaken by Lee, Gert Brouwer and Peter Kelly, with astute observations by Kuldar Sorra a welcome injection. 

As always, thanks to GREEFA for their assistance with the project, our fantastic engineers (Daniel, Mark, Matthew, Keith and Marcin) and of course F.W. Mansfields for their ongoing partnership! Keep your eyes peeled for further F.W. Mansfields news in the near future....