A barn full of bunkers, supply and discharge lines, a throng of forklifts, and eight people sorting seed potatoes six days a week, five months a year. Due to the growing labor shortage and the need for flexibility and quality, Berend Mencke, owner of Mencke Landbouw, decided to do things differently. He sat down with Flikweert Vision, VHM Machinery, and Jongejans Luchttechniek.
Far-reaching automation drive
Berend's arable farm, located in Barger-Compascuum, Drenthe, grows seed potatoes and starting material for the starch market. Over a year ago, the entrepreneur decided to abandon his traditional method of sorting and inspecting seed potatoes. He opted for a Flikweert QualityGrader with crate automation from VHM Machinery. Berend: "We opted for this extensive automation to allow our team of eight people to do more work. With the QualityGrader, we can rely on accurate and consistent quality control with advanced cameras. We can check for wireworms, scab, damage, shape defects, growth cracks, and green spots, among other things. The razor-sharp images are analyzed, assessed, and ultimately compared to our set tolerance."
Faster and more efficient
The QualityGrader can continuously assess the seed potatoes, giving Mencke greater certainty about the quality of the final product. Berend: “This machine works much faster and more efficiently than humans, so that means significant labor savings. A significant advantage, because finding sufficient workers is a real challenge these days. Because of the higher speed, we also had to manage the supply and discharge, of course. I didn't want more forklift movements, so we decided to automate the crate logistics together with VHM Machinery. Now I truly have a complete system.”
Full boxes in, full boxes out
To automate crate logistics, Mencke collaborated intensively with VHM. Instead of a standard brochure, everything was developed based on Mencke's requirements. The solution consists of a destacker, a crate emptier with EvenFlow for even and measured discharge into the sorting line, a buffer/unloading station, a bunker filler, and a stacker. Berend: “It's wonderful to see: full crates in, full crates out. What VHM does is truly unique. Because they treat the crate as a bunker, you eliminate several intermediate bunkers and minimize the drop movement. We also have far fewer forklift movements now, making it much quieter than ever. I think that's important! In principle, we can now keep the line running with one person, and sometimes someone jumps in. We work in two shifts, which allows us to maximize the line's capacity with fewer people than before. We traded in the VHM TwinFilr we already had in the shed, because we can also use the sorting line's destacker, bunker filler, and stacker as separate modules during storage. Flexibility at its finest!”
Fewer disruptions, better working conditions
To ensure a clean working environment in the sorting room, Mencke has been using extraction systems from Jongejans Luchttechniek for years. These have now been relocated and expanded, seamlessly integrating into the new overall system. They extract the fine dust released during the sorting and processing of seed potatoes. By combining the machines with the right extraction system, they are less prone to malfunctions and improve working conditions. By also encapsulating the bunkers, sorting, and packaging machines, dust sources are further shielded and nuisance is prevented. By creating overpressure in the sorting room, the dust is removed from the surrounding area without swirling: the dust is pressed down like a blanket by the fresh, heated outside air.
Worth double and triple
The new line has now been running to Berend's satisfaction for over a year. "We're still working on a final optimization of the QualityGrader, but I'm very pleased with what we've already achieved together. It's given us so much flexibility, and we're now much less dependent on labor availability. It's definitely been worth the investment!"
