The common method of sorting and inspection is well known by now. A shed full of storage bunkers, input and output lines, and forklifts in constant motion. A cosy - but dusty - space where seed potatoes roll by nine hours a day, six days a week under the watchful eye of eight people. At Mencke Agriculture in Barger-Compascuum, this image is a reality for about five months of the year. But this will change this year as they revamp their sorting method in a big way with the investment in a Flikweert Quality Grader with crate automation from VHM Machinery.

“By also automating crate logistics, I now have an integrated system.”

The agricultural company is based in Drenthe and grows seed potatoes and propagating material for the starch market. Berend Mencke shares the turning point in his business: “We consciously chose to grow seed potatoes, and we do not rule out further expansion. In order to do more work with our team of eight and be more flexible with working hours, we decided to automate. The positive experiences with the Flikweert optical grader have taken off over the past year and confidence in automation has grown. By also automating crate logistics with the help of VHM, I now truly have a fully integrated system.”

Achieve more with the same team

VHMs Bas van Dijke and Rik van Hees listened intently at the table at Mencke. Finding suitable staff is a recognisable challenge. Flexibility is difficult when you depend on many temporary workers. Working a half-day shift one day and an evening shift the next to deliver that one batch the next day is not always feasible. The desire to do more work with the existing team is therefore urgent.

With an optical sorter, you already make a big step forward, but what else is possible? VHM can seamlessly respond to that need and optimise crate handling, right up to the point where the customer wants it. That requires listening to the customer, thinking along and providing customisation: “in this process, we did not use a standard brochure,” notes Rik van Hees. They opted for a setup with a destacker, crate army with Evenflow for even and metered feeding to the grader, a buffer/removal station, a bunker filler and a stacker. Full crates in, full crates out.

“Because VHM sees the box as a bunker, the number of intermediate bunkers is significantly reduced and the number of drop movements is drastically reduced.”

Berend Mencke enthuses, “What VHM does is truly unique, no one else at this level does this. Because they see the crate as intermediate storage, the number of intermediate storage bunkers is significantly reduced and the number of times crates are dropped are significantly reduced.” Mencke already had a VHM TwinFilr in the shed, which was used during harvest for three years without any problems. This machine was traded in because the sorting machine's destacker, bunker filler and stacker can also be used separately during potato storage. Flexibility at its best!

Cooperation with Flikweert Vision and Jongejans

VHM will start building the new machines, and during the further development and installation of the project, it will work closely with Flikweert Vision and Jongejans Luchttechniek.