As a family company, Rutishauser A.G. has thrived through the years, because of a passion for growing that’s deeply rooted in the Rutishauser family history.
Now with the 4th generation at the reigns (lead by Bruno Rutishauser, Heidi Fitzi-Rutishauser, Marianne Meier-Rutishauser and Urs Rutishauser ), Rutishauser A.G. is reaching new heights, with multiple production sites in Züberwangen, Fällanden, Neukirch-Egnach and Gordola as well as three proprietary “Flower Family” garden centres.
After a devastating fire to their production greenhouse in Züberwangen, that destroyed around 80% of their 5 ha facility, the Rutishauser family once again entrusted Logiqs with the design and construction of a state of the art automated mobile bench system for their new “Ecofarm”.
Despite this devastating incident, the Rutishauser family did not give up, and decided to build a completely new facility and to invest in a sustainable future for their family business.
The facility they envisioned not only replaces the old one, but surpasses previous standards, is equipped with the most innovative greenhouse automation technology on the market and is ecologically forward thinking.
Logiqs B.V. is grateful for the opportunity to help the Rutishauser family realise their vision of a sustainable facility with a high production capacity, efficient processes and improved labour conditions.
In order to achieve a very high space usage level, a large section of the greenhouse is designed with two levels, housing the logistical handling area (Shipments Loading and Unloading Area), Inventory Storage and a high capacity Work Area, on the ground floor that’s connected through high speed lifts to the Cultivation Area found on the 1th floor.
Work Area
By centralising all the production processes into one space, the main work area brings along with it a multitude of advantages in all phases of production, such as:
- Efficient logistical handling in all phases of production;
- Better organised labour performed under better labour conditions;
- High capacity automatic potting machine;
- Two automatic pot spacing lines with a combined capacity of 40 containers/hour;
- Efficient order picking and packing system, allowing for a capacity of between 40 and 60 containers/hour for the last phase of production;
- Containers are automatically disinfected and cleaned between uses, using the automated 180° Container Cleaner, and this contributes to the overall hygiene in the greenhouse;
The work area is connected to the Cultivation Area using our fast and reliable Automatic Transport lines, working together with our high capacity Lifts. This guarantees streamlined transport between the two areas and reduces the chance of bottlenecks, even during production peaks.
Cultivation Area:
Because all production processes are handled in the Work Area, we were able to optimize the main Cultivation Area for maximum space usage, with narrow walking paths that are only used for crop inspection. So as to further improve the space usage, the Cultivation Area is designed to have several sections with multiple levels.
The entire Cultivation Area is automated using our innovative 2D-Shuttles working together with Automatic Transport Lines and Container Lifts for efficient internal transport of the plant containers.
Automated Irrigation:
Irrigation will also seamlessly integrate into the system, using both Ebb- and Flood Irrigation, side by side with 12 Automatic irrigation booms for precise and efficient irrigation and distribution of growth regulators.
Using the Automatic Irrigation Booms in combination with Dat-A-Water will make irrigation much more efficient because the system will know if there are empty benches and will not waste water or nutrients. The water used in the bench flooding irrigation will of course also be collected and recycled.
Software:
The whole system will be controlled using our own Control and Registration software: Dat-A-Control, complete with all necessary modules for such an ambitious project, integrating Potting, Spacing, Internal Transport as well as Irrigation into one system.
After Sales Services
Logiqs has its own experienced installation and service team based in the Netherlands, but also collaborates with reliable service engineer teams in several countries so as to prevent unnecessary installation or maintenance costs.
Our customers can always rely on prompt and efficient attention for routine maintenance, breakdown or emergency situations.
Routine preventative maintenance can be tailored to the customer's choice, with service intervals to suit the specific needs of the logistical system.
For more information:
LOGIQS B.V.
Honderdland 131
2676 LT Maasdijk, The Netherlands
Telephone during working hours: +31 (0) 174 514 141
Service telephone outside of working hours: +31 (0) 626 434 447
Fax: 0174-517877
e-mail: info@logiqs.nl
www.logiqs.nl