A third party conducted testing in 2021 on the skinning percentages of multiple varieties of potatoes with different equipment in the handling line prior to going into processing. Using two different branded pieces of handling equipment, Lockwood’s VACS Mobile™ is said to have outperformed its competitor by a large margin.
On average, by having the VACS Mobile in the line resulted in a 30-35% reduction in skinning vs. the competitor, according to Lockwood engineers.
The company cites the following real-life numbers as an example:
700 Acres of potatoes
170 “payable” CWT /acre
$36 per CWT times 700 acres of baby potatoes
Equals $4,284,000
As an example, Lockwood uses a modest improvement in skinning percentage. Multiply $4,284,000 by a 5% improvement on skinning and that comes out to be a swing of $214,000 that the farmer didn’t get with the competition.
How much are you losing to skinning? Use the calculator on this page of the Lockwood website to see how much could be saved by using Lockwood’s VACS Mobile.
Source: Lockwood Engineering
Photo: Lockwood VACS Mobile
