Robotisation leading to major water savings in the fruit industry 

Lexem is installing a robotic island to empty stacks of paloxes of fresh fruit for prune and dried fruit producer Maître Prunille. This automation system will result in significant water savings.

Created in 1988, Maître Prunille specialises in Agen prunes and dried fruits. The French company benefited from Lexem’s help – industry-expert Business Unit from VINCI Energies – to achieve water savings in several processes, while maintaining a high-quality production.

Lexem’s work on the first site comprised the installation of a robotised island designed to empty stacks of fresh fruits palox. The new device replaces a forklift operator who used to abruptly empty palox into a water tank fitted with a recycling bin and generating major water waste.  

Emptying these palox with a precise robot has enabled the customer to limit overflow and save up to 30% to 40% of the water consumed during the 8-week harvest, with two 8-hours shifts 7 days a week. 

On the motorized prunes pitting process of two other sites, Lexem installed a water recycling system equipped with an automatic filtration. The system allows a decrease of water consumption while mimicking as much as possible the finest manual pitting method.