Ellips Launches CleanFlow Pre-Sorter to Remove Stones, Clods and Defects Before Grading

Stones, clods, debris and obvious defects entering potato and onion handling lines can affect storage quality, grading performance and operating costs. No matter how carefully a crop is harvested, unwanted material can still reach the intake line, creating problems throughout the process.

Following are the challenges growers, packers and farms handling large volumes of potatoes or onions are likely facing today, along with a solution designed specifically to address them.
 

Grading machines weren't built to handle stones

Potato Grading Throughput

Rollers, cups and belts are designed for potatoes and onions, not for the debris riding along with them. Every stone or clod that reaches the grader is another chance for damage. Rollers, belts and components suffer unnecessary wear. That damage can lead to unexpected downtime, disrupting operations and reducing throughput.

Once a machine is down, repairs, engineer call-outs and replacement parts drive up costs even further. On top of that, a dirty batch simply grades less consistently, undermining the accuracy expected from a grading line.
 

Extreme defects raise infection risk while stones and clods take up space

Extreme defects, rot and disease that reach a storage pile can infect the healthy potatoes and onions sitting right next to them, turning one bad piece into a much bigger loss.

At the same time, stones and clods take up space that should be filled with sellable product and consume the same cold-storage energy meant to protect good produce. What goes into storage decides how it comes out. Neither problem has any business being there in the first place.
 

Manual sorting can't keep up with harvest peaks

Pulling stones and clods by hand has long been the default solution. It works, up to a point. But manual sorting is inconsistent from one shift to the next. It's difficult to staff reliably and nearly impossible to scale when harvest peaks hit.

Labour is also getting harder to find and more expensive to keep, right at the moments an operation needs it most.
 

Every stone costs you twice

Together, these challenges add hidden costs across the whole operation:

• Damaged equipment, production stops and maintenance
• Higher infection risk
• Lost storage capacity and wasted energy
• Weaker grading performance
• A labour bill that keeps climbing

It's not one cost. It's several, stacking on top of each other with every stone, clod or extreme defect that slips through.

Manual sorting has its limits. Leading operations are starting to remove unwanted material at the very start of the line, before it ever reaches storage or the grader. One automated step can deliver a cleaner, more predictable batch every time.
 

The answer: CleanFlow Pre-Sorter

CleanFlow Pre-Sorter is Ellips' newest innovation. It is an intelligent pre-sorting solution built for potato and onion operations of every size that want to improve line efficiency and reduce their dependency on manual sorting.

Positioned right at the front of the line, it removes stones, clods and obvious defects such as rotten potatoes and onions, green potatoes, damaged products, undersized product and oversized objects, all before they reach storage or the grader.

CleanFlow brings Ellips' proven detection intelligence to the front of the process. Everything downstream only has to deal with the product that matters.

Ellips CleanFlow Pre-Sorter removes stones, clods and defects before storage or grading, helping protect equipment, improve storage efficiency, reduce manual labour and lower operating costs

Powered by Ellips True-AI at high throughput

CleanFlow uses the same Ellips True-AI detection technology behind Ellips' advanced grading systems. It scans every potato and onion moving through the line. It identifies unwanted material and off-size product quickly and accurately, even at high speed and high volume. 
 

Storage that holds what you actually wanted to keep

CleanFlow clears out stones, clods and extreme defects before the pile forms. That frees up storage capacity and cold-storage energy for good product. It also reduces the risk of rot spreading through a batch. 
 

A grading machine that lasts longer and grades better

Keeping stones and clods out of the grading machine means less wear on rollers, cups and belts, fewer repairs and more consistent grading performance from a cleaner batch input. 
 

Up to 80% less manual pre-sorting labour

CleanFlow takes over the repetitive work of pulling stones and clods by hand, work that often ties up a full intake team. Operations can cut a 5-person team down to 1. That frees the rest of the team for work where people add real value.

Potato AI Grading Software

Up to 120 t/h, built for peak harvest

Harvest doesn't wait. Neither should the line. CleanFlow keeps pace with up to 120 tonnes per hour, helping prevent intake from becoming the bottleneck during the busiest weeks of the season. 
 

Smooth, stable production

A stone-free flow is a stable flow. With unwanted material removed early — including automatic sorting of under- and oversized product, with extremely large objects detected and stopping the machine so an operator can safely remove them — the line runs steadily at maximum capacity, with fewer unexpected surprises further down the process. 
 

Sized to fit your operation, installed in a day

CleanFlow is available in three widths: 1, 2 and 2.5 metres. It scales from a single farm line to a full industrial operation. Its compact, robust design fits into the existing setup, while plug-and-play installation can be completed in a single day.

The Ellips CleanFlow Pre-Sorter features a compact design for integration at the front of potato and onion handling lines, removing stones, clods and defects before they reach storage or grading equipment

Gentle on the good stuff

Unwanted pieces are lifted out one at a time. A controlled 35 cm drop keeps healthy potatoes and onions moving through untouched, even at full speed. 
 

Lower costs, higher profit

Less downtime. Less repair. Better quality. Higher overall profitability. When operations stop paying for stones and clods twice, those savings go straight to the bottom line. 
 

Protecting storage, grading and profitability

CleanFlow removes unwanted product before it has the chance to create additional costs. Valuable downstream capacity, energy, labour and resources stay focused on the potatoes and onions that matter. It's front-of-line intelligence built for operations that can't afford to keep paying for stones and clods twice.