You are probably aware that crop production is a cycle that consists of many stages, each of which is equally important, and it is very difficult to abandon any of them. Many manufacturers are looking for technological solutions that can streamline individual steps, thereby facilitating the entire production cycle. Most often, we see a focus on finding technological solutions – usually in the form of various types of machinery – at the planting stage. This is where most manufacturers see an opportunity to make real savings or speed up the process. Is it right? By all means! However, there is a small but…For it turns out that improvements in technological solutions and improvements carried out only at the planting stage bring the expected results only up to a certain point, after which it often turns out that the problem with the efficiency or quality of work and planting of plants did not lie only on this side. Often, significantly increasing productivity by investing in high-capacity potting machines or other pot-filling equipment results in the need to hire additional workers who can pick up pots of planted plants and then place them at a designated location on the farm. In such a situation, it turns out that savings that were to be generated by investing in machinery in one place may result in additional costs in another, and there is no guarantee that these costs will balance out. For this reason, we are increasingly encountering feedback from our customers that it is the efficient logistics of plants after planting that is increasingly the bottleneck in plant production. For this reason, it is useful to look at production problems much more broadly and try to predict what consequences a particular machine solution may result in and what problems it may generate at other stages of production. The most sensible seems to be a balanced development of the various stages of production according to a well-thought-out plan. Sometimes it is better to divide the investment into several smaller stages and give yourself a chance to adjust other elements of the whole cycle.
So let’s start with a brief overview of the most popular solutions for streamlining plant logistics in nurseries.
1. CONVEYOR BELTS
Conveyor belts are one of the oldest solutions that improve plant logistics on nursery farms but not only. Basic models of conveyor belts are usually quite simple devices, the construction of which is usually based on various types of aluminum profiles. Most often, belt conveyors are also modules that can be connected together to form longer conveyor lines. These are linear strings ie. That in case we want to change direction we have to apply a turn and connect another line of conveyor belts and so on and so forth. Thanks to its modular design and the ability to change direction by using different types of bends, we can create more or less complicated transport routes that will significantly facilitate the logistics of plants.
2. BUFFER TABLES
Buffer tables are starting to appear more and more often on production line equipment. In a nutshell, these are very large conveyor belts whose job is to buffer pots of planted plants and accumulate them into larger groups, which are then picked up and transported to their destinations. For this reason, the buffer table will not work without an additional machine, which is most often an adapted forklift with specially prepared forks, so that we can take a whole group of pots waiting on the buffer table.
3. DANISH CARTS
One of the most popular and versatile solutions for transporting plants. By design, they were meant to improve transportation between the nursery and the customer, but they are just as often used for internal transport of plants. The fact that you can easily and quickly adjust the quantity, as well as the spacing between shelves, makes it one of the more versatile solutions. On smaller farms, they are packed by hand, but solutions are available for automatic loading of carts of this type.
4. NURSERY CARTS
An increasingly popular solution in tree and shrub nurseries in particular. Carts of this type are usually one, two or three-tier platforms onto which plant pots can be loaded and transported to their destination. They differ from Danish carts in that they are much larger and, above all, can work in rough terrain. Their big advantage is that they follow the tractor, making them great for use on tight and winding roads.
5. ROBOTS
These are machines that are part of a production line and are used, for example, to pack individual pots into transport carriers, which are then placed on buffer tables and transported to their final destination. This makes it easier for further production steps, such as subsequent handling by workers, as well as protecting plants from tipping.
As you can see, there are at least a few solutions that can help you improve the logistics of plants on your farms. What to pay attention to and how to choose the best solution? This is a difficult question, and to answer it well you need to consider many factors. The solution must be tailored to the size of the farm. It doesn’t make sense to invest in a super-advanced solution that we won’t be able to use 100%, but on the other hand, especially on farms planning to grow, it’s worth taking this growth into account and building a plant logistics system that will either be able to handle more pots at the same time in the future or can be easily expanded and customized. Certainly, the terrain, distances from the production hall, widths of roads and their level of complexity (intersections, crossings, etc.), the way of preparation of the kontnerovani should be taken into account. All these aspects will allow or exclude the solutions in question. Certainly, the use of forklifts and the collection of plants with their help from the buffer tables requires proper preparation of the container plant – a stone foundation. This is important because on container farms the distribution of the pens is usually the same so the cart covers the same route repeatedly, which can create ruts on a poorly prepared container farm. In such a case, it is possible to use a combined system, i.e. a buffer table and loading on multilevel nursery carts and unloading them on the container room with forks or carriers. As you can see, we can’t give you a clear answer as to which solution will be best for a particular farm without proper consultation. We already have a number of logistics systems and production lines in our portfolio so we will be happy to tell you what to look for when choosing the right one or how to connect them with each other.
