The InVivo Group, the French leader in grain storage and logistics has installed the first ever optical sorter in a port silo in France. The technology has been purchased from the Bühler Group.
InVivo is responsible for handling around six million tonnes of grain annually, via ships, trains and barges. It is responsible for 12 grain storage sites, with a total capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of grain, and also stores and loads grain at eight other InVivo-managed, partnership silos at ports throughout France. Its quality fulfilment and efficiency is pivotal in ensuring France’s grain exports, which account for half of the country’s grain production.
“Our mechanical equipment was no longer sufficient to achieve the standard of quality we required, given the higher level of ergot contamination we were experiencing in incoming wheat, and we knew we had to act fast in order to reduce potential losses,” said Manderfeld, Head of Investment for Invivo. During 2013, wheat exhibited ergot contamination levels varying between 0.8% to 1.6% and InVivo was committed to fulfilling or improving on the requirement of 0.05% maximum of ergot contamination – the point at which grain is relegated to animal feed.
InVivo and their partner EMC2 turned to Buhler Sortex to provide a solution that would allow it to maintain quality and ensure that the wheat it stored was not downgraded to cattle feed.