How the mechanical sorting standard has been established in the food processing industry
From the USA to Greece, from Finland to South-Africa and everything in between, the Sliver Remover developed by Marcelissen has become the industry standard worldwide for over the past 40 years. But how do we stay ahead in a business environment subject to never ending innovation?
A little background information
The very first Sliver Remover was produced by Marcelissen in the 1960’s. After selling Slitmaster cutting machines to companies producing French fries, Marcelissen received the inquiry to reduce the amount of cutting waste, so-called slivers, ending up in their end products.
Based on this request, our team developed a small, four-roll sorting machine which henceforth would be called a Sliver Remover. Current day we still sell this machine to restaurant & catering businesses. However, due to the rapidly increasing demand for fresh and frozen French fries, capacity soon became a first point of improvement.
In order to increase capacity, we turned the transport direction of the machine 90 degrees, now sorting over the width instead of length. By adding additional rolls, up to 24, and offering various lengths of the rolls, up to 2500 mm, we have been able to serve even the largest industrial customers with capacities up to 40 tons/hr!
Universal application throughout the years
Over the years, Sliver Removers have been used for many things besides removing the slivers in French fries production. Take for example the (frozen) fruits and vegetable industry. One of the most important steps when processing them is getting rid of FM’s (e.g. twigs and leaves) and to cut processing waste for which the Sliver Remover has both been proven to be an adequate and precise solution. The gap size adjustment between 4-24 mm allows to make sure that fruits continue down the line whilst the FM’s together with undersized products fall through the gaps to be transported elsewhere.
Due to its diverse application and suitability for almost any food processing market, Marcelissen has been able to sell Sliver Removers in more than 100 countries worldwide. However, with great success comes great competition. Like any other good idea, the Sliver Remover has been copied and altered many times, but never equally successful due to the continuous improvements we make.
Continuous improvement
Throughout the past decades, we have noticed that new factors began to play an important role in the overall functioning of machines. Companies no longer only focus on the sales price of a machine but are much more interested in Total Cost of Ownership and Return on Investment.
In order to live up to the latest expectations, we made sure the Sliver Remover SR2’s are more maintenance-friendly than previous generations or alternative machines. Wear parts have a longer lifespan (if maintained well, all parts will last for years). In addition, we improved maintenance possibilities and accessibility, ensuring shorter downtime and lower maintenance costs. Aspects that make all the difference in a world of efficient operation.
New markets and innovations
A few years ago, the market started asking for a machine that could not only sort out cutting waste and FM’s, but also sort the actual product by different sizes. Especially in the fruit sector (peaches, cherries etc.) the need to separate different sizes of (cut) end product was increasing rapidly. We talked to our customers about their needs and developed the so-called Split Sorter SR2-S. Taking all the advantages of our latest generation Sliver Remover adding an additional adjustment possibility.
Whereas regular Sliver Removers are equipped with one adjusting box and can only adjust the gap size between all rolls at once, the Split Sorter is equipped with two adjusting boxes. This enables customer to determine the gap size between the first half of rolls and the last half of rolls separately from another. Giving them the opportunity to get rid of FM’s over the first 50% of rolls and make two size sortings (last 50% of rolls and out-feed), all with one machine.
Another application for our Sliver Remover is as spreader in front of an Optical Belt Sorter. Due to the unique roll design and functioning of the Silver Remover the product is spread precisely and fast over its complete width. By using a Sliver Remover as wide as the Optical Belt Sorter, an evenly spread product stream on the Belt Sorter is created, increasing its efficiency and accuracy.
Future
Naturally, we are humbled and proud that so many companies are using a Marcelissen Sliver Remover or Split Sorter to achieve their desired high-standard end product. However, we are not satisfied yet. Our wish and goal for the future would be to show even more people the benefits of our machines and the good they can do for their production process.
With the economy growing rapidly again we see a bright future for our sorters. Furthermore, with food and catering business opening again, this also brings new demand for our specially designed restaurant version of the Sliver Remover, the one it all started with 50 years ago.
Did you just read this article and wonder what a Sliver Remover SR2 can do for your business? Don’t hesitate to contact us via sales@marcelissen.nl for more information!