Since 2002, Metazet/Formflex and Viscon have been active in the North American greenhouse industry. Ever since they opened their offices and workshop in Beamsville, Ontario, the company has been increasingly involved in large and small scale greenhouse projects throughout the U.S, Canada and Mexico.
Metazet's M-Track transport system at Truly Green in Chatham-Kent
"As our installations, gutters and automation can be found at more and more greenhouse projects, we decided that we wanted to take our service to the next level with the opening of a local workshop and showroom in Kingsville, Ontario," said Arie Barendregt, CEO of FormFlex, Metazet and Viscon in North America. "From now on, growers in the Leamington area can enjoy faster and more direct service from our local technicians. We have many Viscon systems running in Leamington, and also our internal transport solutions are very popular in that area, so it makes sense to have a direct service contact there."
Albert Pinto and Arie Barendregt of FormFlex North America
Frontrunners
According to Arie Barendregt, the North American demand for the systems of FormFlex, Metazet and Viscon has increased significantly over the past years. "The Canadian and U.S. greenhouse industry has seen a serious development in the last ten years. Projects are bigger, greenhouses larger, and North American growers are looking for systems that fit in this trend. They have become forward thinking and often have the mentality to be a front runner and implement new technologies and solutions."
As an example, Barendregt mentioned the new Inverted Gutter that was introduced at the Leamington greenhouse grower Amco. "It was a Canadian company that adapted this remarkable gutter design as first, on 16 acres. In a later stage, Village Farms installed them on 20 acres at their premises in Marfa, Texas. This shows that North American growers are not afraid to adopt new technologies, and that they no longer simply copy things from Western Europe."
The IV Gutter with the drain channels underneath the gutter.
Dedicated systems with local service
As the North American greenhouse projects are getting larger, Metazet and Viscon are also focusing more and more on developing dedicated internal transport solutions. "As we are present with local offices, service and engineers in Michigan, Canada and Mexico, we have the ability to become more involved in the development of projects and provide tailored solutions. Our induction driven M-Track internal transport system has become an industry standard here, while we are also still the leading installer of chain track systems. Together with the packaging, handling and sorting solutions from Viscon, we are able to provide a complete internal transport and handling solution."
Metazet's fully automated hanging basket system at Linwell Gardens in Beamsville, Ontario.
Barendregt explained that the local service especially plays a key aspect for many of their customers. "With Metazet and Viscon we can realize complete solutions in terms of internal transport and handling solutions. But this also means that the service will all come from the same company, we are the first contact person with local service. Growers appreciate this, its the key factor of our success."
For more information:FormFlex/Metazet.
Arie Barendregt
4640 Falletta Court
Beamsville, ON L0R 1B4
Phone:
(905) 563-0031Email: sales@FormFlex.ca
Website: www.FormFlex.ca