A cut above; looking at trends in cutting equipment

Proper cutting is a chief component of any produce processor. Depending on the product, incoming raw fruits and vegetables often require cutting into different shapes or configurations and it’s an issue that all processors must take into consideration.

Tom Mathues, president of Vanmark, said hydrocutting is the wave of the future and the company recently released the Lamina, which was developed entirely with fluid modeling.

“It’s hydrocutting machinery aimed towards the french fry industry as well as pickle slabs and things of that nature. It can do spears and all the different type of cuts,” he said. “What’s unique about it is it’s taking on some different shapes that have been developed through our computer modeling systems that give us a far more smooth flow through the system.”

Tim O’Brien, vice president of sales for Urschel, said not too much noteworthy has come down the pipeline when it comes to this cutting equipment of late, but customers are more decisive about what they are seeking.

“When it comes to machinery, it’s a lot of the same thing and people are looking for machines that will deliver the capacity they are looking for that will provide a high-quality cut with a minimal of wastage,” he said. “They want a machine they can change cut sizes quickly and one that they can sanitize well.”

 Therefore, he said, there’s been an increased emphasis on making sure the machines can be sanitized well, and parts can be changed quickly to reduce production time.

David Penta, president of DeVille Technologies, Saint-Laurent, Quebec, said the most important elements clients care about are yield and hygiene. As the market becomes more mature, competition becomes fierce and they look to protect their margins.

“Both are very important, especially, in the vegetable industry, where margins are low and they are looking to stretch the dollar as far as they can,” he said. “When they look to purchase a piece of equipment, they want to know what type of yield it’s going to give. If you are cutting tomatoes, for example, they want to know how much is coming out in water and how much is staying in the product. Also, by cutting it, what sort of shelf life are you getting?”

DeVille recently introduced the Centris 315, which allows clients to process produce in a fast, efficient and quality manner.

“This is our latest and greatest. The way we’ve done that is with a lot of R&D on the whole aspect of how the product reacts when it gets introduced and what we could do to control it so it doesn’t get damaged, allowing a greater yield,” Penta said. “What we’ve done with the Centris 315 is put a lot of focus on cut quality and yield. We’ve seen some phenomenal prelim results to the point our yields can be 10 to 20 percent higher. The shelf life seems to be longer and the product won’t oxidize as quickly because of the way we are cutting it.”

The technology will soon be streamlined across DeVille’s entire product line.

Cutting Challenges

 Cutting into different shapes and configurations is also a challenge when it comes to frozen products (such as french fries) and canned/bottled products (i.e. pickle spears), and equipment manufacturers have been working hard on new solutions.

“One of the growth areas we are seeing is in sweet potatoes and the potato processor people are looking for the same attributes the fresh cut people are, it’s just as applicable to the frozen,” O’Brien said. “We do a little picked spears business and a lot of relish business, and that’s a relatively mature industry. The canning business with popularity of fresh cut and frozen is not as popular as it once was.”

Urschel sells the DiversaCut, which can slice and dice potatoes for french fries or soup and is as hygienic as they come, according to O’Brien.

“Changeovers are very quick and the drive components are in a separate area from the cutting zone so it makes the operation very sanitary,” he said. “We also have a smaller machine called the Sprint. As it relates to potatoes or other vegetables – carrots, onions, etc., they are very popular.”

According to Mathues, often in cutting there is potential for breaking and cracking –especially at the end of the job – but the Lamina has seen vast improvements from earlier models in the industry.

“This type of innovation has been relatively stable in design,” he said. “Our parent company, Grote, is a meat-slicing company that did blade work. These are different, but the approach to technology has been used successfully in this high-speed apparatus.”

The challenge, he said, is in getting the product oriented and stabilized as it enters the cutting zone.

“We believe acceleration and the way we direct water through the cutting centers the product better and also stabilizes it so it’s not tumbling or rotating as it hits the knives. That becomes critical in the cut itself, or you could get off-cut or waste,” Mathues said. “The next piece is the knife itself. Because this is a cleaving style cut as opposed to a sawing style or draw cut, the knife edge has to be a little different. It has to be smooth so it gets cut cleanly at the tip and also has a long life.”

Additionally, the next phase is vitally important because once the product slides over the knife, out of the cutting zone, it can be problematic.

“You want that to be as gradual and simple a movement as you can get. They are moving 40-50km an hour or more over the knife. Any rapid change in direction, even a minute movement, causes surface fracturing,” Mathues said. “The knife technology, smoothness of the blade as it exits and the process of orienting product are all critical.”

Final Thoughts

As the technology in the machines get further developed, the opportunity for a wider range of sizes to pass through them exist, and this, according to the experts, is where the machines are progressing.

“Typically today, they work best by minor diameter needs to be relatively close to size of acceleration for good centering,” Mathues said. “We are doing a lot of work to do it hydraulically instead of mechanically. It’s a lot better solution. Ultimately, we believe it will lead to a wider range of sizes, and more effort away from processors when it comes to sorting.”

Keith Loria, contributing writer