Miller Magazine Issue: 144 December 2021

70 COVER STORY MILLER / december 2021 TEST AND DEMONSTRATION CENTER To ensure that operators extract each machine’s full po- tential, TOMRA provides on-site training for customers, as well as making technical experts accessible via a helpline. And with the recently-launched smartphone app TOMRA Vi- sual Assist, TOMRA field service engineers and customers can work closely together even when they are thousands of miles apart. The engineer can provide detailed advice just as if standing right in front of the customer’s machine, and both the engineer and the customer can share documents or annotate images to clarify and explain directions. Before getting to this stage, food producers are welcome to try-out TOMRA’s machines with their own infeed materials at TOMRA’s nearest Test and Demonstration Centre. There are 8 demo centers around the world in California, Chile, Bel- gium, Turkey, China, India, Japan and Ireland ). Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, TOMRA also offers Online Demonstration Centers. These show tests via a live video link, with viewers encouraged to ask questions, make requests, and direct one of the cameras showing the pro- ceedings. After the test’s conclusion, observers are provided with a video and report which quantifies results in detail. These demonstrations mean that customers can be confi- dent of a machine’s capabilities and suitability before decid- ing to invest in the technology. And it’s an investment that pays back in many ways: by differentiating better-equipped processors to gain them a competitive advantage; by open- ing new doors to markets which demand high product stan- dards; and by protecting that most valuable of all business assets, brand reputation. The Zea, developed specifically for the seed corn industry, is an affordable sensor-based machine for sorting and grading ear corn husk, defects, disease, and size. The Nimbus BSI+ uniquely combines lasers with NIR, visible spectroscopy, and TOMRA’s patented BSI+ scanner, which can detect objects’ biometric characteristics.