A barn full of bunkers, supply and discharge lines, forklifts driving around, and eight people sorting seed potatoes six days a week, five months a year. As a result of the growing worker shortage and a need for flexibility and quality, Berend Mencke, owner of Mencke Landbouw, decided to take a different approach. He sat down with Flikweert Vision, VHM Machinery and Jongejans Dust Collectors.

Far-reaching automation

Berend’s arable farm, located in Barger-Compascuum in the province of Drenthe, grows seed potatoes and starting material for the starch market. Over a year ago, the entrepreneur decided to say goodbye to his traditional method of sorting and selecting seed potatoes. He chose QualityGraders from Flikweert Vision with box automation from VHM Machinery. Berend: “We opted for far-reaching automation so that we could do more work with our team of eight people. With QualityGraders, we can rely on accurate, consistent quality control using advanced cameras. We can check for needles, scabs, damage, shape defects, eyes, and sprouts, among other things. The razor-sharp images are analysed, assessed, and compared to the tolerance levels we have set.”

Faster and more efficient

QualityGraders can continuously assess seed potatoes, giving Mencke more certainty about product quality. Berend: “This machine works much faster and more efficiently than humans, which means significant savings on labour. An important advantage because it is really challenging to find enough employees these days. Of course, the higher speeds meant that we also had to make changes to supply and discharge. I didn’t want to add to the number of forklift movements, so we chose to automate box logistics together with VHM Machinery. With all these elements combined, I now have a totally integrated system in place.”

Full crates in, full crates out

For box logistics automation, we worked closely with the people at VHM. There was no standard brochure involved, everything was developed based on Mencke’s requirements. The solution consists of a destacker, a box emptier with EvenFlow for even and dosed output into the sorting line, a buffer/removal station, a bunker filler, and a stacker. Berend: “It’s a wonderful thing to watch: full crates in, full crates out. What VHM does is truly unique. Because they regard the crate as a bunker, you can eliminate several intermediate bunkers and minimize falling movements. We now also require far fewer forklift movements and therefore have more peace of mind than ever. I think that’s very important! In principle, we can now keep the line going with one person. Whenever necessary, someone will join in. We work in two shifts and in this way, we get the maximum capacity out of the line with fewer people than before. We exchanged the TwinFilr that we already had, because we can also use the sorting line destacker, bunker filler and stacker as separate modules during storage. Flexibility at its finest!”

Fewer breakdowns, 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 moved and expanded, so that they have seamlessly become part of the new total system. They extract fine dust released during the sorting and processing of seed potatoes. Air is filtered and returned to the room completely clean, so that heat is retained. Combining the machines with the right extraction system makes them less susceptible to malfunctions and improves working conditions. By encapsulating bunkers, sorting and packaging machinery, sources of dust are further shielded, and nuisance is prevented. By creating overpressure in the inspection room, dust disappears from the environment without swirls: the dust is pushed down like a blanket by the heated outside air.

Well worth the investment

The new line has been up and running for more than a year now, to Berend’s satisfaction. “We are very happy with what we have achieved together here. The solution has given us so much flexibility and we are now much less dependent on the availability of labour. It has been well worth the investment!”