Onion shippers who sourced their Ellips technology through GP Graders will still have service available although Ellips and GP recently ended their partnership.
An announcement came on March 4 that Ellips, “international supplier of grading and sorting technology for the fresh produce industry, announced it will no longer provide its solutions to GP Graders,” according to a story published on FreshPlaza at https://www.freshplaza.com/article/9078139/ellips-ends-partnership-with-gp-graders/?utm_campaign=highlights&utm_medium=email&utm_source=08-03-2019.
Ellips President/founder Erwin Bakker was quoted as saying, “GP Graders has long relied on Ellips to supply the technology utilized on their grading and sorting platforms for cherries, apples and other commodities and we wish them the best going forward. However, they are no longer an authorized supplier of Ellips technology.”
Bakker went on to say in the story that “GP Graders customers who utilize Ellips True Sort grading solutions will be able to receive software updates, system upgrades and technical support directly from Ellips or their authorized representatives. This change will not affect the quality of service and support delivered to the GP customer base. In fact, it will create a more direct relationship with Ellips which will help ensure optimal system performance while providing direct access to all future technology enhancements.”
The True Sort parts, software upgrades and system enhancements are only available through Ellips or its authorized representatives. And for service and support of GP Graders grading platform, “excluding the grading and sorting technology, customers should continue to deal directly with GP,” it said.
On its company website at https://ellips.com/food-automation-and-elisam-ellips-commission/, Ellips has a January post that pertains specifically to onions.
Headlined “Food Automation and Elisam / Ellips commission the first Optical Onion Grader in New Zealand,” the Jan. 30 post starts off with, “After having installed Elisam Optical Onion Graders in Australia at LJM Produce in Western Australia, 2-Lanes in 2016 and at Zerella / Parilla Premium Potatoes, 4-Lanes in 2017, Food Automation and Elisam have now also installed and commissioned the First Optical Onion Grader in New Zealand.”
It goes on to quote Colin Tarrant, operations manager for New Zealand company Southern Packers, “Technology is the way forward and the Elisam Optical Grader is at the top of this development. This grader will put us in a position to give further satisfaction to our customers, by increasing productivity, improving and supplying consistent quality, and enable our company to grow.”
Featured Image: OnionBusiness.com photo taken at 2018 PMA Fresh Summit
