Smits Agriculture
Smits Agriculture
Smits Agriculture
Smits Agriculture
Rationale: Increasing sorting capacity
On the fields of the Northeast Polder, Thijs Smits runs a successful arable farm with his cousins, a family business that has been in operation for three generations. With locations in Nagele, Ens and Luttelgeest, they manage some 350 hectares of crops, including seed and ware potatoes, carrots, onions, sugar beet and winter wheat. As third generation Thijs Smits himself puts it “ As a family-run business, we are now investing in technology with the QualityGrader that will prepare us for the future.”
“ As a family business, with the QualityGrader we are now investing in technology that will prepare us for the future.”
Why the QualityGrader?
With increasing demand for efficient and accurate processing of their crops, Smits was constantly looking for a way to increase their sorting capacity while improving the process. “We came into contact with Martijn through our neighbour Daniël Scholtens. When he came along, we quickly saw that a new sorting line with two QualityGraders would best suit our needs,” explains Thijs.
Challenges for the QualityGrader
Previously, combining problem lots sorting and late crops harvesting was a difficult job. Limited capacity and intensive labour made it difficult to sort everything for quality in a timely and thorough manner. The QualityGrader changed this. “Now we can easily combine problem lots with late crops without stagnating the work. This gives us much more flexibility,” explains Thijs. Also, staff can now be deployed elsewhere during the winter months, which in turn contributes to efficiency.
The choice of Flikweert Vision
Capacity and proven technology played a major role when purchasing the QualityGrader. “We didn't want to be the first to try something new - we were looking for a machine that had already proven its worth. Flikweert Vision offered exactly what we were looking for: a mature solution that not only met our capacity requirements, but also delivered the quality we needed.” They are assured of continuity, without compromising on speed or accuracy.
Since the QualityGraders were commissioned, the results are clearly visible. “Our batches are now cleaner and purer than what we could ever achieve with the naked eye,” Thijs says enthusiastically. This offers not only an improvement in quality, but also great time savings.
