Cucumber Packaging Line

JM Controls and Electric was hired as the design / build controls contractor to design, install and program a controls system that would combine 3 existing cucumber sorting machine into one. The customer also required transparent tracking of all employee’s and boxes. A high speed RFID system was developed with employee’s wearing RFID bracelets. Some 128 RFID readers throughout the machine track, count and sort as employee’s pack boxes, and at the end of the line, the customer knows exactly which person packed which box and where those cucumbers came from.

Some features also included:

  • High speed sorting using a propriety method to sort over 10,000 boxes per hour
  • Communication to high speed printers to print labels in real time showing traceability data
  • Data backhaul to customer office to administration can monitor line performance in real time
  • Wireless tablet control system to allow system operators to move around the machine while changing parameters
  • Remote support allows us to troubleshoot minor issues instantly from anywhere in the world

The project was completed on time and on budget. The customer continues to use JM as their controls contractor of choice.