Evaluation and design of an automated system to increase productivity in the pineapple peeling and cutting process

Abstract

The overall objective of the research was to increase the productivity of the pineapple peeling and cutting process in the agro-industrial freezing stage by designing an automated system. For the first specific objective, the performance of the manual process was diagnosed using direct observation, analysis of production records, and ergonomic evaluation. During the annual season, 1,124,948.2 kg of fresh pineapple were processed, yielding an average net yield of 34.85%, a rejection rate of 65.15%, a cycle time of 39 s per pineapple, and a Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of 1.103, evidencing low efficiency and high raw material waste. For the second objective, an automated system was designed using SolidWorks for the mechanical design, CADe SIMU for the electrical and pneumatic system, and SoMachine for the simulation of the control logic with PLC. The simulation made it possible to reduce the cycle time to 25 seconds per pineapple, representing a 35.89% improvement in productivity, in addition to projecting a reduction in the rejection rate to 22.80% and an increase in overall net yield to 77.20%. Finally, the comparative economic analysis showed a reduction of 476,415.56 kg in waste, an estimated saving of S/ 1,191,038.91, and an increase in PTF to 2.73. The financial evaluation yielded a NPV of S/ 221,773.81 and an IRR of 40.35%, confirming the technical and economic viability of the proposal