This year, PEQ is Maasdijk has implemented a new line of crate-laying for peppers. “A improvement in efficient handling both for our growers as well as our own packaging and trading company that helps us reduce required costs,” says Operations Manager Marc Vriesen. A box slider has been in discussion since a long time. “Last year, we’d had an interim tipper created to familiarize ourselves with the process. After that, we realized the possibility to benefit both from our own side and in the hands of growers and began to research available options available. We ended up working with Burg Machinery.”
“We currently receive our peppers mainly from growers’ cubic crates which are emptied at the farm by Burg’s Crate Fillers. The crates we receive are then placed into the tipper on our facility, and then the peppers are evenly placed on the conveyor belt. Then, they are transferred onto a conveyor belt that is angled which is where the peppers get into in the flowpack line. The whole process is very practical,” Marc says. “Incidentally the growers who are members of our system can still choose to deliver the peppers via boxes or crates. This can be fascinating to market reasons. That is the reason we decided to maintain that flexibility.”
Keep flowpacking throughout winter as well
Three tilters are included in each line. They will determine the colour mix packaging order. “This is the typical “traffic light” packaging however we also package depending on the requirements of the client. In the end, flow pack mix remains an extremely sought-after packaging option,” Marc says. “The setup is designed in order to enable us to package products the winter. This way we make the procedure as flexible as is possible.”
“This innovative method is a way to reduce handling time and thus costs for both market gardeners as well as us as a packaging business. Through arranging the process differently it is possible to save labor and therefore costs that are crucial at this point. What’s more, the process also offers our workers an improved working environment since the individuals who insert the peppers are now making smaller motions. We’ll be able to be able to kill two birds with two stones,” Marc observes. “A condition for us was the high quality of the product required it that we also had the option of putting individuals on the conveyor belt. Burg is doing extremely well using this setup.”
Professional event with feet planted on the floor
“We work with the line for emptying crate starting in week 14, meaning it is right before the start of Dutch pepper harvest. We’ve been working towards the starting date with Burg and succeeded quite successfully,” Marc says. He is enthusiastic about the collaboration together with Burg: “If you ask me, this is an experienced company that has a solid foundation and is responsible all the way from beginning to end, with a little care afterward.”
When asked what else is the top priority for Marc regarding automation, the Operations Manager says there is a lot of potential gains that can be realized through optical sorting. The optical technology has the potential to be a great tool in the sense that it allows you to completely adapt the quality levels in accordance with the customer’s requirements, as there’s a market for every kind of pepper.”
More details:
Marc Vriesen
PEQ
Honderdland 250
2676 LV Maasdijk
Tel: +31 (0) 174 728 814
Mob: 06 – 44 86 96 57
[email protected]
www.peq.nl
Arne Dekker
Burg Machinery
Weihoek 11
4416 PX Kruiningen
Tel: +31 (0) +31 (0) 113 50 13 73.3
Mob: +31 (0) 6 1849 78 90
[email protected]
www.burgmachinery.com