THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE
Mr. Do Ngoc Tai, current President and CEO of Tai Kim Anh, understood the challenges of grading shrimp accurately and efficiently. After all, TAIKA is a global supplier of high-quality shrimp products to many countries around the world.
Having a long family history in the seafood business, Mr. Do has firmly established himself as an expert within the industry.
At the time, his company was using checkweighers to sort and grade shrimp. Although the equipment was reliable and served its purpose, there were four areas ripe for improvement:
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A labor-intensive operation, involving too many workers, manual handling, a two-variable processing system, inconsistent throughput, insufficient use of factory space, opportunity for data analysis. Lack of automatic data feedback from equipment.
LABOR | QUALITY | OPERATION | DATA & ANALYSIS
IN SEARCH FOR CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT
One day, news about a highly advanced grading solution in the market reached Mr. Do in Vietnam. Curious about the opportunity to improve his operation, he sent the technical manager Mr. Son and sales member Mr. Long to an event called “Shrimp Cooking School” in India.
During this trip, they were given a demonstration of the sorter, which utilized laser-based technology and advanced machine learning algorithms to sort shrimp. They were impressed by how this new equipment graded large amounts of shrimp at unmatched speed and accuracy and the way that it used digital controls to provide instant data results.
TAIKA now had a decision on their hands -- stick to what they know can get the job done, all faults considered, or embrace a new technology that would place them ahead of their competition.
Their conclusion was a resounding one -- the new technology was vastly superior. With its short payback and ability to mitigate ongoing issues, there was no doubt in Mr. Do’s mind that it was a worthwhile investment.
THE RESULTS
AFTER USING THE SMART SHRIMP SORTER FOR SEVERAL MONTHS
The excitement from Mr. Do about his new sorter was palpable:
“A year ago, the idea of grading once and only once for any and all products was almost unimaginable, the idea of replacing a room full of checkweighers and personnel for one single automated machine was a fantasy! Now with the Smart Sorter, those ideas have become a reality. I can produce everything I did before but now I am doing it faster, at higher quality, with better process yield...”
- Mr. Do Ngoc Tai
After the installation of the first unit in Vietnam:
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70% Reduced number of laborers allowed for huge labor costs savings.
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Faster processing, and eliminated the need for a two-variable processing system in which some workers were being shared between roller graders and check weighers.
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The owner was also able to reclaim valuable space within the facility"
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Potential to increase production up to 40% be leveraging the free space.
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The new equipment allowed the ability to make real-time decisions and provided automated data collection. This enabled the team to organize the production according to supply and demand for shrimp, thereby maximizing their margins.
