by SEO Graders, Australia
Automation is helping shellfish farmers navigate soaring energy costs, a strong labour market, and market volatility. The requirement for oyster farmers to innovate their farms by investing in technology is under the spotlight. Many have embraced new technologies to improve the overall performance of their operation.
Automation of the oyster grading or sorting system is fast becoming a necessity rather than a luxury and its inclusion is having a significant impact on oyster farming efficiencies and profitability. While farms adopt digital technology that oversees the oyster growing operations and assists farmers in making critical decisions on the health of their crops, automating the labour-intensive process of oyster grading is solving the problems of staffing, resource deployment and speed to market demands.
The ability to immediately grade, sort, and bag the oyster harvest without complex staff scheduling perfectly complements commercial oyster farming operations. By employing automation technology, oyster farming aligns with the advancements made in other primary producer sectors such as agriculture and livestock.
Oyster farmers are acutely aware that any investment in infrastructure must create cost-benefit outcomes, improve productivity and reduce operational overhead. Recent global issues with staff shortages have added further complexities to oyster farmers needing to streamline their operations, find efficiencies to remain competitive, and see significant improvements to the bottom line.
Aussie ingenuity is now in North America
The team at SEO Graders, an innovation and automation company based in Tasmania, Australia, has worked with Australian oyster farmers and professional industry bodies for the past 20 years, solely focused on developing automated oyster grading technology that positively influences the productivity and efficiencies for oyster farmers.
The integration of automation technology is reshaping traditional practices and driving valuable efficiency and productivity gains. At the forefront of automation is the SEO Vision Oyster Grader, a multifunctional machine designed to streamline operations and optimize the grading process. One of the most significant advantages of the SEO Vision Oyster Grader is its ability to enhance productivity by up to 400 percent. By performing a comprehensive array of tasks, including separation, cleaning, measurement, sorting, counting, and bagging, this innovative technology eliminates the need for manual grading processes, freeing up valuable time and resources for oyster farmers.
Central to its success is its precision and accuracy. This system uses cushioned air technology to achieve an impressive oyster sorting accuracy of up to 99 percent, surpassing traditional manual sorting methods. By ensuring consistent and precise grading, oyster farmers can confidently deliver high-quality products to their customers, enhancing their reputation and market competitiveness.
The versatility of the SEO Vision Oyster Grader has won over many oyster farming operations of various sizes. With highly customizable configurations, this grader can be tailored to align with the specific production demands of individual oyster farms. Whether it’s selecting from options featuring four, six, or eight-grade exits or adjusting the size and quantity of bags to accommodate varying production outputs, oyster farmers have the flexibility to optimize according to their specific requirements.
Proven speed and efficiencies
The SEO Vision Oyster Grader enhances productivity and improves overall operational efficiency by automating labor-intensive tasks and streamlining the grading process. With reduced manual intervention, the SEO Graders vision oyster grader user-friendly design facilitates effortless bag changes and can be operated single-handedly; oyster farms achieve higher throughput rates and minimize the risk of errors, maximizing yield and profitability.
There is no denying the need for speed, and the faster and more effectively mundane tasks can be completed, the more efficiently farming resources can be deployed. The SEO Graders vision grader is fast. A SEO Vision Grader with 4 lanes processes approximately 60,000 mature oysters per hour and requires a single operator to inspect for dead oysters and to change baskets or bags. With a proven accuracy rate of 99 percent, oyster farmers using the technology have complete confidence in how quickly and accurately they can grade, sort, and bag each harvest.
The SEO Grader Vision oyster graders utilises video camera tech to grade and sort oysters. This tech enables oysters to be graded by size rather than weight, and with markets now prioritizing size over weight, investing in size-based grading technology fits most oyster farm strategies. The size-based grading approach offers a superior alternative to traditional weight-configured graders. A long and thin oyster will grade the same as a short wide oyster with the same weight. While conventional methods often result in wide tolerance margins and potential losses in sale value, the SEO Vision Oyster Grader is designed and manufactured for precision and profitability.
Manufactured for harsh conditions
SEO Graders have several vision oyster graders already in use in the northern hemisphere, including Vancouver. The machines are manufactured in Australia for the harsh coastal regions associated with the continent’s southern regions, and the transfer of experience has proven invaluable to the company’s international customers in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Japan. With a targeted push into North American markets, SEO Graders continue to employ the same successful process when implementing their vision oyster graders, water oyster graders and associated grading equipment.
The team takes the time to discover the exact requirements of your oyster farming and processing facility.
No matter the operational size, they customize the equipment to fit your oyster farming operation’s exact requirements and dimensions, including how your farm processes its oysters. During the design phase, they provide scale drawings to illustrate how the machine will fit into your processing facility and make any adjustments before production begins. This phase is important as oyster farming practices vary considerably worldwide, and no one arrangement will fit all operations.
The SEO Graders technical and engineering team builds your machinery at their Tasmanian, Australia facility. It undergoes comprehensive testing and commissioning before shipping to your site anywhere in North America. The team will conduct commissioning and extensive training on site to ensure complete confidence and operational integrity, plus provide a step-by-step instruction manual and video.
The oyster grader machines are manufactured from the highest grade stainless steel, engineered to withstand the rigors of harsh and remote oyster farming environments.
They are engineered to streamline your operation, requiring minimal maintenance. While boasting advanced technological capabilities, SEO Graders has minimized its mechanical complexity to facilitate straightforward repairs. In the rare event of encountering an issue, the SEO Graders team offers comprehensive after-sales support globally, including remote access assistance via the Internet
Aussie-owned and supported by the shellfish industry
SEO Graders is a family-owned Australian company based in Tasmania. The company has been designing and manufacturing innovative oyster grading systems and equipment for over twenty years. They work closely with professional oyster growers, the Tasmanian Oyster Research Council, and the FRDC (Fisheries Research Development Corporation). Most recently, the team has been developing a revolutionary cold shock treatment for overcatch. The ambitious project has garnered substantial support and co-investment from key industry players, including The Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (OAF), Fight Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre (FFWCRC), and the Australian Government’s Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC). These organizations have joined forces with industry partners such as Kooringal Oysters, Moreton Bay Rock Oysters, and Gold Coast Oysters to assist in testing and market entry development.
SEO Graders is regarded as the leader in oyster grading innovation and technology. Its experience and successful integration into international markets enable the company to supply and service shellfish farming operations throughout North America with proven oyster grading machines and auxiliary equipment. They aim to help solve a range of problems for oyster farmers, improve their competitive positions, and enhance their reputational value in their respective markets.
SEO Graders is open for business in North America, and now is the time to contact their team and automate your oyster grading process.
Published in the June 2024 issue of International Aquafeed.
