Overview
SortAll® is a patented whole-room pig sorting system specifically designed to address
our three tenets of successful automated pig sorting systems.
- Automatic, repeatable, pig training
- Sufficient access to food and water at all times
- Scale utilization encouragement not requirement
SortAll® System
The SortAll® System is divided into three stages of production: training, growing,
and marketing.
Training is possibly the most important stage in the system. The scale can at times
be the only way to access food (e.g. while marketing) so it’s very important that
pigs are comfortable using it. Any period of time where pigs are deterred from food
will hurt their growth so they must be trained to use the scale properly. Manual
training generally doesn’t work, because, like many things well suited for automation,
it’s hard to get it right every time. For this reason, the scale handles training
pigs when they’re started and automatically determines when they’re ready for the
growth stage (tenet 1).
The growth stage is the longest of the three stages so it’s very important that
the pigs’ growth rate is maximized. During this stage pigs can choose to use the
scale or optionally bypass it to access food (tenets 2+3). Presented with the two
options, trained pigs, on average, choose to utilize the scale 50% of the time.
When it’s time to start marketing, the benefits of the previous two stages pay off.
Trained pigs have no problem switching over to the scale as the only way to access
food so they’re easily sorted and their growth doesn’t suffer (tenet 2). As soon
as the scale finishes sorting, it automatically resumes the activities of the growth
stage for the pigs that remain in the pen (tenets 2+3).
SortAll® Revolution 2
SortAll® Revolution 2 is a highly automated pig sorting scale. It’s designed to
handle one of two large pens in the SortAll® room layout at a time and automatically
switches operation between them as pigs grow. Eight pneumatic gates under the scale’s
control allow it to automate the three production stages in the SortAll® system.
Each scale has a software interface which helps growers monitor the progress of
pigs as they grow and make decisions when it's time to start marketing. The data
collected throughout the production stages is leveraged by the software to provide
growers and integrators with valuable information about their pigs.
Weight data in its raw form isn’t of much use because of errors, caused by pigs,
which are inherent in the automatic weighing process. Sophisticated filtration algorithms
are employed to clean data so it can be used for reports such as real-time average
daily gain, weight distribution, average weight, standard deviation, and market
load planning/projections.
In order to put weight data to use and track populatin changes in the room, a population
module is provided. Accurate population information is the key to providing calculations
such as pigs started, current amount in each pen, total died, total culled, death
loss percentage, and total marketed.
While most of the scale’s operation is fully automated growers are still responsible
for instructing it to start performing certain activities. The activities module
makes it possible to manage the start and end of activities such as training, marketing,
cross sorting (sorting between pens), and painting.
Not Just a Scale
The phrase ringing in the ears of many people in the industry regarding automatic
pig sorting is “the pigs don’t grow.” Well, that is certainly true when a sorting
scale is used in an improperly designed room and/or operated without consideration
for the system as a whole.
Focusing too much attention on the scale (a.k.a pig sorter) is a common pitfall
when considering automatic pig sorting. Although the scale is the piece of equipment
that actually sorts the pigs, it doesn’t ensure the success of a pig sorting system.
True success with automatic pig sorting comes from a whole-room system that is both
properly designed and operated.
Does It Work?
When designed and operated properly SortAll® finishers outperform conventional finishers
with added benefits such as business intelligence data and ease of pig handling
while marketing.
The following tables compare the performance of SortAll® and conventional finishers
across several sites where over 160,000 pigs were sold.
* Site had significant health problems
Working for Success
All SortAll® finishers are designed by us and integrators/growers receive operational
guidance as needed to ensure their success.
There are many competing sorting systems in use that suffer from flawed room designs
or improper operation. In these scenarios we consult with integrators and growers
to determine what changes should be made to turn their performance around.
