WPS News

Ammerlaan-Sosef has commissioned WPS to further update and improve its current sorting and shipping buffering system. WPS is working vigilantly to get the job done within the allotted time slot and get all new wishes implemented.

Expansion and upgrading the buffer
The number of tracks of the renewed buffer system will almost be doubled and for a large part will be a continuation of the existing buffer. In this new setup Ammerlaan-Sosef will be able to water the plants in the gutter tracks of the shipping buffer. Furthermore the buffering system will be integrated and connected to last years installed SmartFlo system.

Sorting with Plant Vision technology
Plant Vision technology in combination with WPS’s software analyzes at high speed large numbers of plants. Plants can be sorted based on characteristics, such as size, color and species. Next, the sorted plants are automatically transported to assigned buffering tracks and packing stations.

Part 2 of the project: Packaging Line automation
Besides upgrading the sorting buffer, Ammerlaan-Sosef has even more ambitious plans in the form of automating the packaging line. This automation consists of a sleeving machine, a Smart Placing robot which automatically places plants in an assortment of trays and an automatic tray de-stacker called Smart Destacker, which can de-stack trays of various sizes. In the next few weeks we will keep you updated on this project as well.

In horticulture Corona has hit hard. Many horticulturists were forced to throw away plants. One would think that larger investments would be put on the back burner. Nevertheless, we see another trend at WPS: after having dealt with the first blow, it turned out that the demand among horticulturalists for automation was increasing.

For years they have been one of the most recognizable elements of our customers' logistic systems in pot plant cultivation: the woven transport belts. They are the way to transport plants over long distances and the basis of many plant buffer systems. Yet there are still elements that can be improved on such an apparently simple product. Weaving and choice of material are determinants for e.g. stretch, wear and tear and straight running of a belt.

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Hoogeveen Plants, growers of shrubs, small trees and grasses, in Hazerswoude-Dorp the Netherlands is going to implement a WPS SmartFlo system at one of their locations. SmartFlo will be used to move plants into the growing areas as well as consolidating growing space and getting plants to the shipping departments. A key requirement was: to be as flexible as possible with use of the systems and being able to do various routes through the growing area. But being able to save labor was Hoogeveen Plants’ main requirement.