Bedford Introduces New Produce Automation

Bedford Industries recently launched Tag Tyer™, a first-of-its-kind automated solution to apply produce tags in the field.

The revolutionary machine was designed to eliminate hand application of twist ties, tags and Bedford’s own Bib Ties^®. Automating the tag-tying process saves growers 2-5 seconds of labor per item, requiring fewer people to harvest more produce. The new produce identification solution also achieves a material savings of 2 or more inches of tie per bunch, depending on commodity and bunch size. Growers can have their annual estimated savings calculated by sending a sample of their bunches to Bedford for testing.

To operate, a field worker simply places the fresh produce item on the tray and can return to other tasks while the machine bundles, ties, and advances the item to the next step in the harvesting process. The Tag Tyer also enables in-field date coding and traceability.

A prototype of the machine underwent in-field testing last spring, which demonstrated successful operation in both the field and packing shed environments. Tag Tyer machines will be customizable to meet growers’ specific packaging needs.

“The demand for produce automation is high, especially with the widespread labor shortages we’re seeing across the country today,” said Bedford President Jay Milbrandt. “Growing environments present very unique challenges to developing automation solutions. I’m proud of our engineering team that accepted the challenge and built a machine with growers’ unique needs in mind.”