Key Technology promoted Bert Switten as area sales manager for Central and Northern California. Switten is now responsible for bringing Key’s high performance digital sorting, conveying, and process automation systems to food processors and other manufacturers.
“With such a high concentration of nut, fruit and vegetable processors in this region and the launch of our new family of VERYX® digital sorters that perfectly address their needs, Bert has a fantastic opportunity to deliver a lot of value. His wealth of experience, strong technical skills, exceptional customer service, and great teamwork make him uniquely qualified to step into this important role,” says Steve Pellegrino, senior vice president of Global Sales at Key. “Food processors will quickly appreciate his knowledge and dedication to helping them find the best industry-leading solutions for their applications.”
Prior to this promotion, Switten held the position of digital sorting sales support manager for North America, based in Key’s Sacramento, Calif. facility. Before the Key-Visys merger in 2013, he was a customer service engineer for Visys NV in Hasselt, Belgium. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electro-mechanics and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Limburg Catholic University College in Hasselt, Belgium.
“This is an exciting time to bring Key Technology to the market. In addition to all of our other innovative solutions, we now have our next-generation VERYX sorters. With several sizes of chute- and belt-fed VERYX systems being introduced and modular designs that are fully customized for each situation, these new sorters will perfectly match each food processor’s requirements, from basic to complex,” Switten says. “We’re delivering the technology and the support to help our customers improve product quality, increase yields and maximize production efficiencies. Our combination of sorting and conveying solutions using VERYX and our Iso-Flo® conveyors is unmatched in the industry.”
Switten takes responsibility for the area that has been handled by Jack Kraemer, who is retiring from Key after 13 years. Additionally, Switten is responsible for all walnut processors and Frito-Lay plants throughout California. Excluded are wine, tomato, tobacco, pharmaceutical, and nutraceutical industry customers, which are handled by industry-specific sales teams.
