Packhouse processing software for easy management of fruit and vegetable processing and packing. For medium to large packers, importers, exporters of fresh produce.
nsuring accurate traceability and minimizing paperwork in the fresh produce industry is a challenge. To answer these challenges, farmsoft packhouse processing software provides a complete business management solution for fresh produce processors and marketers.
Farmsoft packhouse processing software manages all facets of the fresh produce process from incoming produce, to processing, sorting, grading, packing and even value adding. The functionality of farmsoft packhouse processing software is rounded off with comprehensive quality control, sales, dispatch, and invoicing functionality.
Farmsoft packhouse processing software provides comprehensive labeling, inventory management, pallet management, pallet control, audit functionality, quality control and other fresh produce tools to make every day business management easier.
Farmsoft packhouse processing software supercharges packhouse performance and reduces compliance costs.
Packhouse processing software
The farmsoft packhouse processing software consolidates the entire fresh produce packing and processing enterprise into one easy to manage solution. Managers can monitor the progress of orders, their fulfillment, & create work orders to deliver specific specific quality and specifications of produce for specific customer orders.
Packhouse supervisors and admin have all the documentation presented to them automatically when orders are ready to be shipped – ensuring that no one can ever forget to include a document with a shipment again.
Easily ensure standards are maintained with Quality control that standardizes quality tests, ensuring consistent and accurate classification of fresh produce, reducing incorrect categorization and presenting the opportunity to improve fresh produce handling processes. Pack shed / packhouse / factory managers can direct, order, and monitor work progress in real time, over multiple packhouses or sites if necessary.
About our packhouses
Our Packhouses are designed and engineered tailored to the type of fruit & vegetable and their specific protocols on cold chain and extended shelf life with the best quality possible.
Packinghouse operations can be as simple as moving produce from a field lug into a shipping container, or may include a variety of handling practices, from cleaning, waxing, sizing, and quality grading to color sorting. The provision of shade during the packing operations is extremely important. Shade can be created using palm leaf fronds, a plastic mesh or canvas sheet hung from temporary poles, or via a permanent roofed structure. When deciding upon where to locate a packinghouse, access to the field and market point, adequate space for vehicles to enter and leave the packinghouse and ease of access to labor will all be considerations (Proctor, 1985).
In the simplest packinghouse, produce is delivered in picking containers, immediately after harvest, directly to the packers. The packers then sort, grade, size and pack the produce directly into appropriate transport containers. In this case, each worker must be knowledgeable regarding produce defects, grade and size requirements, and packing methods.
As the size and complexity of the packinghouse increases, more operations and workers trained in specific tasks might be added.
Dumping
Produce must somehow be removed from the field bin or harvesting container and moved through the packinghouse. This first step is known as ''dumping". Dumping must be done gently, whether using water assisted methods or dry dumping. Wet dumping can decrease bruising and abrasions by using moving, chlorinated (100-150 ppm) water to carry delicate produce. When using dry dumping, padded, sloped ramps or moving conveyor belts can decrease injuries to produce.
Pre-sorting
Pre-sorting produce is usually done to eliminate injured, decayed, or otherwise defective produce (culls) before cooling or additional handling. Pre-sorting will save energy in that culls will not be handled. Removing decaying produce items will limit the spread of infection to other units, especially if postharvest pesticides are not being used.
Cleaning
For some commodities, such as kiwifruits and avocadoes, dry brushing may be sufficient to clean the produce. Other commodities, however, such as bananas and carrots, require washing. The choice of brushing and/or washing will depend upon both the type of commodity and the type of contamination.
Wash before cooling and packing : tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy greens
Wash to remove latex, reduce staining: mangoes, bananas
Wash after storage : sweetpotatoes, potatoes, carrots
Dry brush after curing or storage: onions, garlic, kiwifruit
Do Not Wash : green beans, melons, cabbage, okra, peas, peppers, summer squash
Sanitation is essential, both to control the spread of disease from one item to another, and to limit spore buildup in wash water or in the packinghouse air. Chlorine treatments (100 to 150 ppm Cl) can be used in wash water to help control pathogen buildup during packing operations ( Moline , 1984). There is some variation in the strength of bleach available commercially in different countries, but a rule of thumb is to use 1 to 2 mls of chlorine bleach per liter (1 to 2 ounces of chlorine bleach per 8 gallons of clean water). Walls, floors and packing equipment can also be cleaned using quaternary ammonium compounds labeled as safe for food processing equipment (Kupferman, 1990).
Waxing
Waxing of immature fruit vegetables such as cucumbers and summer squash; mature fruit vegetables such as eggplant, peppers and tomatoes; and fruits such as apples and peaches is common. Food grade waxes are used to replace some of the natural waxes removed in washing and cleaning operations, and can help reduce water loss during handling and marketing. If produce is waxed, the wax coating must be allowed to dry thoroughly before further handling.
Sizing
Sizing produce is optional but may be worthwhile if certain size grades receive a higher price than others. In most low-input packinghouses, manual sizing is still commonly practiced. Operators should be trained in selecting the size desired and to either directly pack the items into containers or place the selected produce gently into a bin for packing further down the line. Sizing can be done subjectively (visually) with the use of standard size gauges. Examples of the smallest and largest acceptable sizes for each product can be placed within view of the operator for easy reference. Hand held sizers are used for a variety of products.
Many products have established U.S. grades and standards that can assist packers in sorting and sizing produce. The following are examples of standards based upon diameter and/or length.
Examples of USDA Grade Standards:
Rhubarb Grades Diameter Length
U.S. Fancy > 1 inch > 10 inches
U.S. No.1 > 3/4 inch > 10 inches
U.S. No.2 > 1/2 inch
> 10 inches
Garlic size designations Diameter in inches
#11 Super-Colossal 2 15/16 and up
#10 Colossal 2 11/16 – 2 15/16
#9 Super-Jumbo 2 7/16 – 2 11/16
#8 Extra-Jumbo 2 3/16 – 2 7/16
#7 Jumbo 1 15/16 – 2 3/16
#6 Giant 1 13/16 – 1 15/16
#5 Tube 1 11/16 – 1 12/16
#4 Medium Tube 1 9/16 – 1 11/16
Several types of mechanical sizers are available for small scale operations. One type is composed of a long slanted tray with a series of openings which converge (largest at the top, smallest at the bottom). This type of sizer works best with round commodities. Other sizers are designed as conveyors fitted with chain or plastic belts with various sized openings, and are useful for sizing most commodities. Another simple method for mechanical sizing is to use a set of diverging bar rollers (see illustration below), where the smallest sized produce falls through the rollers first to a sorting belt or bin, and larger sized produce falls between successively more divergent rollers.
Diverging bar rollers sizer:
Narrow pallet system
The University of Wisconsin is promoting this handling system for produce because it saves time, money and is safer for handlers. With a hand pallet truck you can move up to 16 cartons at a time. This system can cut your time spent moving boxes and will dramatically reduce the stress on your body.
A hand pallet truck is similar to a regular hand truck (dolly) except that the base uses pivoting forks instead of a fixed plate metal shoe. If you stack your load on a small plastic pallet (14 x 24 inches), you can position the forks underneath and move an entire stack of cartons at once. A hand pallet truck can be tilted (by releasing the forks) for loading and unloading and locked into an upright position to tip back and roll the load.
According to the UWisconsin project, custom-made hand pallet truck and pallet costs approximately $750. At $7.00 per hour, you'd need to save 107 hours for the system to pay for itself. If you saved 30 minutes per weekday (10 hours per month), the system would pay for itself in less than 11 months. The pallet truck system also saves money in reduced back pain and therefore fewer visits to the doctor, chiropractor or a massage therapist. If you saved yourself 15 visits (at $50/visit), the system would pay for itself.
Source: University of Wisconsin Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits Project, December, 2000; Work Efficiency Tip Sheet: Narrow Pallet System Second Edition.
Custom hand trucks available from: Valley Craft, 2001 South Highway 61, Lake City , MN 55041 . (800) 328-1480. carts@valleycraft.com
General operations
The typical series of operations in a packinghouse are illustrated below. Dumping can be done using either dry or water-assisted methods, depending upon the sort of produce being handled. Cleaning, as well, can be by washing with chlorinated water or dry brushing alone. Waxing, if practiced, occurs after washing and removal of surface moisture. Grading, as illustrated, separates the product into processing and fresh market categories. Sizing further separates the product, with the smallest size going to the local market or to processing. Typically, the best quality produce is packaged and marketed at the regional or national level.
FAO. 1986. Improvement of Post-Harvest Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Handling - A Manual. Bangkok : UNFAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
Packinghouse Layout
Packing operations that are done in an unsystematic manner can cause delays, add costs or effect produce quality. You can save time and money by laying out the packing shed in an organized, step-by-step system.
Source: Meyer et al. 1999. Work Efficiency Tip Sheet: Packing shed layout. Healthy Farmers, Healthy Profits Project, Department of Biological Systems Engineering, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin, 460 Henry Mall, Madison, WI 53706.
Dumping
Any time produce is dumped from one container into another, care should be taken to reduce mechanical damage to the commodity. When dumping produce from field bins or from transport vehicles into the packinghouse, dry or wet dumping can be practiced. When using dry dumping practices, the field container should be emptied slowly and gently onto a tilted ramp with padded edges. In the illustration below, a conveyor belt then carries the dry dumped produce into the packinghouse.
Dry dumping
Wet dumping is sometimes used to reduce mechanical damage, either by dumping into water rather than onto a dry ramp, or by immersion and floatation. If the specific density of the produce, such as apples, is lower than that of water the produce will float. For some produce, such as pears, salts (such as sodium lignin sulfonate, sodium silicate or sodium sulfate) must be added to the water to increase its specific density and assure fruit floatation.
The canvas curtain illustrated below is used to break the fall of fruit moving from a conveyor into a bulk bin.
Source: USDA. No date. Modernising Handling Systems for Florida Citrus from Picking to Packing Line Agricultural Research Service, USDA Marketing Report No. 914.
Conveyor equipment
To reduce bruising:
use foam-padded ramps
slow produce speed on ramps by installing retarding flaps, curtains, blankets or drapes
use a flexible drape to slow fruit as it falls from a higher conveyor belt to a lower one (use a lightweight drape for short transition, heavier drape for higher transition)
belting to prevent produce from falling directly onto roller sizers
remove support pan from under belt in an area where fruit lands on a new belt.
Get best-in-class efficient on-farm cooling and precooling, with enhanced production capacity for fresh fruit and vegetables, all-in-one solution in a modular packhouse design.
InspiraFarms packhouses integrate cold rooms with handling and processing space, as well as hygiene and administrative areas. Each packhouse is delivered with a specific cold room and precooling configuration around temperature, pressure, relative humidity and airflow with a focus in reducing shrinkage, extending shelf-life, and ensuring maximum capture of the harvest quality.
For clients who require space for aggregation, processing and packing, we offer custom-made distribution of work spaces by ensuring designs that follow best-in-class workflows and compliance with international food safety standards.
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Key Features
The packhouse has panels made of high density PUR (Polyurethane) to maximize the thermal insulation and grant our clients lower energy bills.
Easy compliance with international food safety standards such as BRC, ISO22000, Global GAP and others.
Option of having one or multiple internal precoolers and finished product cold storage with cooling machinery designed with the most modern and low emission refrigerant gases available.
We can offer cooling machinery based on your needs and budget such as direct expansion, blast-chillers and chiller-based cooling solutions.
Flexible designs for integrating areas for reception, holding, processing, hygiene room, packing material room, offices, Q&A and more.
Dimensions range from 100 m² to 2,000m² or more.
They can be powered by grid connected and hybrid solar solutions.
They come with a cloud-based system to monitor your operations.
packing house avocado export
Benefits of our packhouses
Easy compliance with export protocols and food safety certifications
We offer custom cold chain management according to specific crop types, and the distribution of working and processing spaces that ensure best-in-class workflows compliant with international food safety standards. This allows our clients to not only reach export quality but also perform safe value-addition of their fruit and vegetable.
Reduced losses and rejections
Our packhouses integrate on-farm cold chain solutions designed under specific crop by crop protocols and working spaces for processing and adding value that follows international food safety standards. We assure our clients optimal results in reducing losses and rejections through prompt on-farm extraction of field heat by getting the cold chain to start at the farm. Adding value to the fresh produce at the farm, (grading, cleaning, cutting and packing) also assures better results on reducing the risk of losses and rejections. Most of our clients report losses and rejections of less than 3% of the agreed net weight at destination.
Value-addition & increased revenues
With our cold rooms and precoolers, we generate back on-farm revenues and reduced risk – reducing fruit and vegetable supply chain risks is about efficient and quick precooling. Cold chain management for fruit and management is essential to reduce claim risks and increase farm revenues and off takers satisfaction. At InspiraFarms, we have studied, developed and tested solutions for the key export crops from Africa and incorporated that experience in our solutions.
One stop solution
Our clients can easily access and deploy fully integrated packhouses with seamlessly integrated areas with prefabricated and modular components. Where we had a large number of contractors and technicians that the client had to manage, we now offer a one-stop-shop for modular steel structures (cold rooms, packing floor, dry storage, dispatch areas, loading bays, hygiene and administrative areas and more), cooling machinery, blast chillers, remote monitoring, electric and lighting solutions, and energy control.
Types of Pack houses
We manage two ranges of packhouses: FLEXI and K-Plant
Flexi range packhouse
This range of packhouses can be outdoor or indoor to better fit our customers’ needs.
The structure is modular in 5 x 5 meters modules built with laser cut steel and are hot-dip galvanized after welding to guarantee maximum durability in harsh environments.
Walls and ceilings are made of high density closed cells PUR cold room sandwich panels so that the cold room can grow with our customers.
The FLEXI range packhouses are completely self-standing and can grow in modules of 25m², with dimensions that can range from 25 to 1,000+ m², available in 3 meters height.
It is equipped with corrugated steel roofs and gutters that allow ventilation and allow for the assembly of PV panels for solar hybrid cold rooms.
Features
The FLEXI range of packhouses can be matched with a variety of accessories such as sliding, roll-up and hinged cold room doors, bollards and railing. It can also be served by a wide range of cooling machines and sensors.
The facilities are lightweight, expandable and shipped as turn-key solutions ready to be installed only requiring concrete flooring.
They guarantee seamless integration with cold rooms and precoolers, packing floors, hygiene areas, packing material rooms, fresh produce QA labs and any other area required in post-harvest of fruit and vegetables.
Once installed, the FLEXI range packhouses are ready to be operational and be compliant with food safety certifications.
K-Plant packhouse
This range of packhouses aims at serving larger operations and starts at 500+ m² modules.
The structures are modular in 6 x 18 or 6 x 24 meters modules built with H-shaped structural steel, and 18 or 24 meters span.
Packhouse dimensions range from 576 to 2,000+m², 5 meters usable height, 7 meters total height.
Walls and ceilings are made of high density closed cells PUR sandwich panels.
FAQs about packing houses
What is a packhouse for agribusinesses?
What is the capacity of your packhouses?
How are your packhouses powered?
What is the price of a packhouse?
What should be done before packing the fruits?
What processes and value addition can be performed inside the packhouse?
What food safety certifications is the packhouse complaint with?
What do I need to have on site for having installed an InspiraFarms packhouse?
Can I disassemble the facility and build them somewhere else?
Who is in charge of packhouse construction?
How long is the lifetime of a packhouse?
Automated pre-sizing process in water and automated robotic packing
Since the 1980s, Maf Roda Agrobotic has largely contributed to the evolution of the fresh fruit and vegetables grading sector by bringing grading machines from mechanical to electronic and automated systems. Maf Roda Agrobotic has also developed the process of pre-sizing in water, allowing its customers to work in two stages with their products for better control of their stocks, cost reduction of their packaging and ensuring them a higher reactivity in response to market orders.
Packhouse Processing
Packhouse Processing
But pre-sizing also has a major asset in its modus operandi: it is automated upon entry of products in the packhouse, with bins being emptied with raw products picked in orchards and with no manipulation of the fruits by operators. The constitution of batches of defined categories is carried out gently and without hand contact, the fruits are transferred in water channels and automatically sent to new bins, automatically cleaned by a bin washer from our range, for their storage in cold-rooms before their packaging according to the received orders.
Packhouse Processing
Packhouse Processing
For the pre-sizing in water process, Maf Roda Agrobotic has been designing and producing water treatment and filtration systems for years, this year with new high performance solutions to fight against possible bacteria and viruses that may come from apples or orchards. Water used to convey apples goes through treatment and filtration units which use UV combined with hydrogen peroxide to remove pesticide residues, then through a disinfection process with chlorine dioxide to allow the water to be preserved without bacteria and viruses. These treatment and filtration units thus maintain conveying water with a quality close to that of drinking water. These solutions also have the advantage of operating with reduced water consumption and of presenting no rejects harmful to the environment.
To ensure a continuous process in order to guarantee product integrity and quality as well as health safety when they are packaged for sale, Maf Roda Agrobotic has designed the Line Pack, an automated robot packing machine. The pre-sized products are automatically packed in the trays to make 1-layer and 2-layer boxes as well as bushels.
Thanks to the orienters, the optical system positions the apples along the stem axis, the best color on top, in order to compose the most uniform trays possible.
Packhouse Processing
Packhouse Processing
Filling of the cells or trays is operated continuously by several robot heads in series, with gentle and controlled picking and placement of the products.
The automated robot packing Line Pack is the efficient and reliable answer to market demand and changes, with operations allowing to avoid any contact between the operator and the product. It allows capacities of up to 320 fruits per minute to be reached, i.e. up to more than 3.5 T / h on a configuration with 10 robots (5 on each side of the grader). And to guarantee at 100% the quality of the apples being packed, all fruit are analysed by the GlobalScan 7 electronic grading system, at the cutting edge of technology, to select only those products with no external defects. This analysis can be optimized with the added use of the internal quality control system IDD4, which will eliminate products with internal defects such as internal browning or water core.
Packhouse Processing
Packhouse Processing
In addition, its supervision is eased by a user-friendly and interactive Human-Machine Interface which makes it possible to easily manage the different packaging formats used in the packhouse.
Currently 4 apple packing lines equipped with the Line Pack have already been installed and are operational in France and abroad.
And new developments are nowadays underway to provide an adapted solution of the Line Pack for automatic packing of peaches and nectarines.
For more information:
Maf Roda
Tel: +33 (0)5 63 63 27 70
Email: maf@maf-france.com
www.maf-roda.com
Smallholder Fresh Fruit Bunch Traceability
Packhouse Processing
Packhouse Processing
The main thing is to have a system that is consistent and functional in case of a recall. New rules from FDA require that records be available within 24 hours. However, it's in everyone's interest to expedite tracking - for a lot of reasons that include public health, eliminating unnecessary removal of product and minimizing bad publicity.
The technology in question has existed for well over a decade; it scored its patent back in 1997 A University of Florida scientist named Greg Douillard invented a machine that etches” labels on the outermost surface of the fruit, using carbon dioxide to remove pigmentation. It's harmless and low-impact, and the New York Times trumpeted in 2005 Tattooed Fruit Is on Its Way”
If a produce item is suspected of being contaminated, the supplier recalls the product. Although most recalls are voluntary, others are required by government agencies such as the FDA. At the same time as the recall, suppliers generally implement corrective actions to protect consumers from potentially adverse effects of the product.
Fruit growers that want to be in compliance with the FSMA once it is fully enacted must be able to demonstrate that they are implementing Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) to prevent or mitigate identified food safety risks, and to be able to rapidly identify and isolate any source of the contamination. Growers will need to implement a traceability system that is consistent, speedy, and covers the entire production chain.
Mahindra inaugurates grape packhouse facility in Nashik
Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd., a subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, part of the USD 20.7 billion Mahindra Group, today inaugurated its grape packhouse facility in Nashik. The facility was inaugurated by Dr. Pawan Goenka, Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
The grape packhouse facility is one of its kind in India and features the latest technologies that are available in post-harvest management of grapes. The grape packhouse facility will be instrumental in maintaining the freshness of the grapes, through an effective cold chain, from its arrival into the facility till it reaches customers in overseas markets.
According to Dr. Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., “The inauguration of this modern Packhouse is another significant step for our Agri Business. This facility is a testament to the ‘Make in India’ initiative and will further the cause of Delivering FarmTech Prosperity by helping Indian growers meet stringent global quality standards.”
Packhouse Processing
Packhouse Processing
Speaking at the inauguration of the new facility in Nashik, Ashok Sharma, MD & CEO, Mahindra Agri Solutions Ltd., said, “We are delighted to bring this state-of-the-art packhouse for all the stakeholders in the grape value chain. This model facility will go a long way in building the confidence of international customers. With avant-garde refrigeration, processing and packing technology, this packhouse will enable us to ensure the highest quality supplies as per global standards.”
The Grape Packhouse facility can pack 90 tons of grapes per day and has been certified by international bodies such as BRC (British Retail Consortium), Fairtrade, SMETA (SEDEX), and the RFA (Rainforest Alliance) besides domestic certification by FSSAI and APEDA. The facility is housed within 6.5 acres of land with a total build up area of 75,000 sq ft. It has twelve pre-cooling chambers and 280 MT of cold storage capacity.
Sustainability is at the very core of this Mahindra grape packhouse facility. Energy efficient LED lights have been installed at all places and there is also a provision for captive solar power generation. A rain water harvesting system has been installed to collect and store upto 7 million litres of water. Amongst other sustainable solutions, there is an in-house sewage treatment plant which provides usable non-potable water for myriad purposes including gardening.
For more information:
Mohan Nair
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
Tel: + 91 22 28468510
www.mahindra.com
New packing facility for ANB Investments
The Arisa Packhouse, located on the N2 at Buffeljags near Swellendam in the Southern Cape, has undergone a change in ownership. ANB Investments – a group with holdings in several South African agricultural companies – has recently acquired a 51 % stake in the Packhouse and it is planned that the facility will undergo refurbishment and technological upgrades. ANB Investments, also owns the global ClemenGold mandarin and LemonGold seedless lemon brands, and with the acquisition of the Arisa Packhouse, the company has increased its fruit packing capacity.
“Arisa Packhouse which is located centrally between the Western and Southern Cape Indigo Fruit Farming operations (the fruit producing arm of ANB Investments), will augment the capacity of the other two packhouses located in the region,” says Kabous Vryenhoek, General Manager. “With the increase in plantings of citrus in the area, combined with Indigo farms’ own citrus plantings in the Western Cape, there was a need to secure additional specialized packing capacity,” he adds. The Packhouse will in future be able to handle additional products including soft citrus and lemons, whereas in the past the 9,500 m2 facility largely focused on packaging persimmons, avos and plums from the surrounding farming communities. This ability to pack these various fruit types makes the packhouse unique and packing will take place over almost a 11-month period. More permanent jobs are therefore created.
Packhouse Processing
Packhouse Processing
ANB Investments acquired 51% of equity in Arisa Packhouse from KAV YAM, an Israeli investor, with the IDC (Industrial Development Corporation of SA) retaining the remainder of its shareholding in the Packhouse. The IDC’s Head of Agro-processing and Agriculture, Manoj Seonath, commented: “We are pleased to welcome ANB Investments as the new shareholder in this venture. We are certain that their experience and understanding of the agricultural dynamics of this region will be invaluable going forward.”
While the majority of the Group’s farming and packing operations are spread across South Africa, including in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, ANB Investments has been expanding its citrus production footprint to include the Western and Southern Cape. These regions offer an ideal climate for the production of especially soft citrus and lemons. The Western and Southern Cape areas are Black spot free and allow for entry into more diverse markets. The lateness of fruit from this area also effectively extends the company’s supply season by several weeks.
New equity deal promises greater pack-house efficiency and automation
Two leading innovators are coming together to deliver a formidable range of automation services to post-harvest operators across Australasia who want to enhance efficiency, meet compliance needs and overcome labour shortages.
Following recent collaboration on a number of projects, Jenkins Group today announced they are taking a 50 per cent equity stake in CR Automation (CRA), an award-winning automation and control systems manufacturer based in Hawke’s Bay.
Packhouse Processing
Packhouse Processing
Jenkins Group is a key industry player throughout Australasia’s horticulture post-harvest industry with subsidiaries in New Zealand and Australia (Tauranga-based Jenkins Freshpac Systems Ltd and NSW-based J-Tech Systems PTY). The group provides an extensive range of labelling, packaging and handling systems to the fruit and vegetable industry across both countries.
Managing Director of Jenkins Group, Tony Sayle, says the combination of skills, products and services that the two organisations will now provide will be game-changing for the horticultural industry.
“The Internet of Things (IoT) and automation are clear requirements for our horticulture sector to excel and thrive in a global economy and soar through its ambitious target of being a $10 billion industry by 2020,” Sayle says.
“Jenkins Group Ltd has a long history of innovation and we have decided to invest in CRA to bring together our existing pack-line automation solutions with the cutting-edge integration and line management capability that CRA are renowned for delivering across Australasia and around the world.
“This new partnership will provide industry-leading produce handling capability to a post-harvest industry screaming out for efficiencies and solutions to its labour supply woes and escalating compliance needs.”
Sayle says product security, authenticity and traceability are becoming vital elements of the supply chain and Jenkins Group recognise the need to supply an increasing range of automation solutions to meet the changing demands of its clients.
“CR Automation are a world class developer and provider of automation and control systems. We’re impressed by their engineering capacity, and our horticultural clients will certainly benefit from their services and products. Together we intend to lead the field across post-harvest produce handling, FMCG production automation and municipal asset monitoring.”
CR Automation’s services encompass the food and beverage industry, water and wastewater, materials handling, cool storage, meat and wool processing and general manufacturing. Their capabilities range from machine safety through to electrical and software engineering, industrial IT, robotics and project management. Earlier this year they won the “Most Innovative Solution” award for ABB robotics at the ASIA Value Provider Conference 2019.
Packhouse Processing
Packhouse Processing
CR Automation Managing Director Peter Richards says the 18 year-old tech company has experienced exponential growth over the past three years and was looking for an equity partner who could help sustain that growth and ensure longevity.
“We wanted a partner founded on similar ideals who could also provide market access beyond our existing client base,” Richards explains. “Jenkins Group are a family-owned company with 136 years of success behind them. They are very client-focused and trade with a high level of integrity.
“Jenkins are across the industry challenges and want to provide solutions by extending their service offering so CR Automation will be delighted to help them do just that. We’re excited about what the future holds as the potential of both companies is realised through this new equity partnership.”