Kvalitetssorter

Kvalitetssorter is a term used in Danish and Norwegian to describe the process of sorting goods by quality. It denotes the classification of products into predefined quality grades based on criteria such as appearance, size, weight, and functional properties. The aim is to ensure uniformity, meet customer specifications, and enable pricing according to quality.

The process is common across many industries, including agriculture (fruits, vegetables, potatoes), fisheries and seafood, forestry and lumber, textiles, and electronics. Sorting criteria typically include external quality attributes (surface defects, colour, shape), internal attributes (moisture, density, composition), and packaging integrity. Sorting can be performed manually by trained inspectors or by automated lines using machine vision, cameras, laser measurement, and sensors.

Quality sorting supports traceability and contract compliance, enabling items to be routed to appropriate quality grades, packaging lines, or markets. It can reduce waste and improve yield by identifying and diverting nonconforming units early. However, it requires clear product specifications, regular calibration, and maintenance of equipment, as well as training to reduce subjective variation.

In practice, quality sorting is often integrated into broader quality management systems and industry standards and is tailored to specific product definitions of quality grades. The term emphasizes systematic classification of products to promote comparability, pricing, and supply-chain efficiency.