When Thermal Tech pioneered the TarpLess ripening room system back in the mid 1990s, it changed the way bananas are handled at retail distribution centers (DC’s), allowing truckloads of palletized fruit to be uniformly ripened to a predictable color with precision control for the very first time. The resulting increase in ripening efficiency and profit had a seismic impact on the industry that continues today, with thousands of rooms processing millions of pounds of fruit on a weekly basis.
Currently, this process is overseen by an army of QA and QC personnel whose job is to make sure banana quality syncs up with store shipping schedules. Because even with today’s most advanced technology, some elements of ripening such as receiving, inspection and day-to-day monitoring remain hands-on and labor intensive. But that’s all about to change according to Katherine Sizov, CEO and co-founder of Strella Biotech.
By fully automating and streamlining these “human dependent” procedures, Sizov believes Strella’s predictive, AI assisted technology platform will have an equally seismic impact on the industry. Working closely with Thermal Technologies, Strella has integrated their platform with the TarpLess ripening room’s PLC operating system and is rolling it out at the DC’s of several leading grocery retailers. We asked Katherine about the system.
What is fully automated, AI assisted banana ripening?
Fully automated, AI assisted banana ripening uses predictive, AI assisted data modeling applications to automate what, until now, has been the most human dependent and labor-intensive part of commercial banana ripening. When we founded Strella in 2018, our goal was to reduce the enormous amounts of waste and shrink in the produce sector using data and technology solutions designed to maximize ripening and supply chain efficiencies.
We started with post-harvest apples, developing a sensor device and data platform that is currently saving the industry millions in waste by improving operational efficiency, increasing sales and reducing shrink. From there we turned our sights to bananas, since they are responsible for an even greater share of shrink and waste.
We developed comprehensive data models for each stage of the banana ripening process along with sensors that could detail fruit and ambient room conditions at the same time. Using this data, we developed an intelligent, AI assisted interface that can determine what, if anything, needs to be adjusted during the ripening cycle. Now that it’s integrated with Thermal Tech’s operating system, the rooms themselves can make those adjustments automatically.
How is the Strella process different from what’s being done today?
Right now, many tasks at the DC level are still very hands-on and human dependent. First, QA and QC personnel have to receive and inspect bananas upon arrival to ascertain the quality of each shipment. Then they have to use their own judgement to decide what, if anything, needs to be done to get the shipment under control and ready for ripening.
Once loaded into the room and gassed with ethylene, the fruit then has to be carefully monitored through a series of time consuming, in-person daily inspections to make sure the ripening process is proceeding as planned. While this may not sound like much, multiply these tasks times the 10 or 20 double-truckload capacity ripening rooms in the average DC and the hours add up quickly. Not to mention there is potential for human error every step of the way.
Strella fully automates this labor intensive and human dependent part of process. You simply receive the fruit, load the room, close the door and the system does the rest – monitoring and adjusting the ripening process automatically in real time from gassing through shipping to achieve the desired results.”
So Strella works as an add-on or plug-in to existing ripening rooms?
Well, less like an add-on or plug-in and more like a fully integrated system overlay, using predictive intelligence to take over all of the room’s key operational tasks. That’s where working with Thermal Tech has been so valuable. As the industry’s premier ripening room manufacturer they have a wealth of experience building best-in-class ripening operations and the systems that run them – along with in-depth knowledge of the ripening process itself.
Being able to tap their expertise as well as their extensive customer base has facilitated the entire process. Integrating Strella with Thermal Tech’s PLC control system gives us the ability to interface with any TarpLess ripening room using that system, which has enabled us to expedite testing and rollout. The system is now fully commercialized and being used by some of the largest retailers and wholesalers in North America. It’s even starting to gain traction globally, which is really exciting.
Where does the Strella data come from?
We use a combination of existing data and novel data to inform our predictive technology. Existing data includes things like country of origin, pack date and available receiving data. Novel data is the data collected using our proprietary sensors placed inside the ripening rooms including temperature, humidity, ppm of the various gases and fruit color.
This eliminates the need for time-consuming daily inspections and saves ripening teams valuable time, freeing them up for other activities. This is proving to have a big impact on labor efficiency and since we utilize machine learning within the technology, the more loads ripened, the smarter and more refined the process becomes.
What is the ROI for automated banana ripening with Strella?
So far, the ROI includes shrink reduction, operational cost reduction, sales improvement, labor efficiency, input cost reduction and reducing resources associated with recruiting and training. This is exciting because it means our technology is improving the bottom line for various departments including: procurement, quality assurance, operations, store operations and human resources.
We’re still looking at the numbers but they appear to be very good. Labor savings from the QC team alone have proven quite substantial. It also helps eliminate problems surrounding increased employee turnover since the system reduces the amount of time required for training, allowing new employees to be quickly brought up to speed and trained as replacements.
What can we expect in the future?
We are currently rolling out in the US, Canada and soon in the U.K. and Australia. We are also working on avocado and mango ripening products to supplement the banana ripening suite. The Thermal Tech clients who have adopted our technology have been extremely helpful and enthusiastic.
We are routinely asked if we can impact other processes such as supply planning, demand forecasting and receiving and we are exploring potential ways for Strella to have a positive impact in those areas as well. Though we can’t say much about these future developments just yet, stay tuned, more is on the way.
In the meantime, we’ll be sharing booth No. 3339 with Thermal Tech at the IFPA Global Produce and Floral Show in Anaheim and invite those of you interested in learning more about fully automated banana ripening to stop by for a demonstration and to learn more about the process.
Katherine Sizov can be reached at [email protected]. Learn more at strellabiotech.com.
