Cees de Groot, Plantech:
"Canada: "Growers no longer hesitate to automate wherever possible"
Currently owned by Richard Hiebendaal and Rob Brinkert, Plantech has been serving the Canadian greenhouse industry with installation and service of greenhouse electrical systems, controls and automation for over 40 years. The company is located in Jordan Station and is a dealer and installer for companies like Priva, Buitendijk Slaman, Vostermans Ventilation, Wanjet spray robots (Holland Green Machine) and Aweta.
According to Plantech's sales manager Cees de Groot, in the last couple of years the company has seen an increase in their activities installing large sorting and packing machines and logistic systems. "It has been a very busy year for us with many large projects in the field of automation", he says.
Cees explained that growers in provinces like Ontario, Quebec, but also in the U.S. are increasingly interested in automating processes with internal transport solutions and complete grading, sorting and packing lines.
"The vegetable industry has seen a lot of growth over the last years. There are new companies on the horizon, but existing companies are also expanding rapidly. Growers find trouble to source workers, and also the minimum wage sees an increase. These are all reasons to consider automating processes wherever possible."
"You can easily say that more growers no longer hesitate to install automation. The industry is thriving and as companies get larger, automation becomes more interesting. Especially in terms of complete automation: from transporting the picked fruits to the pack house with robotized or guided vehicles, towards handling the produce, grading, sorting, box filling, shrink wrapping, labeling and palletizing."
Plantech provides complete automation solutions from Aweta and also works closely with other companies to provide complete solutions. They do not only sell and install the system, but also have trained staff and spare parts available to provide technical support and on-site service. Over the last year they have been involved in some large automation projects for growers like Pure Hothouse in Leamington and Mucci Farms in Kingsville, Ontario.
But the automation trend can also be seen in the area of optimizing workflow. "More growers choose for an extensive labour registration system such as Priva FS Performance, and combine this with the sorting and product registration from the Aweta system to obtain a detailed performance overview."
But it's not just automation and machinery that Plantech sells and installs. They also provide a lot of installation and technical support in the area of greenhouse electrical, climate and irrigation control.
"We also provide the complete range of Priva products and provide service to growers in Niagara, Quebec, Pennsylvania, New York, Florida and even New Mexico. Plantech’s sales and service goes all over North America. This also brought us a lot of work. In 2017 we will be busy with greenhouse expansions in Ontario and Quebec. Apart from that we expect more work to come in the new year."
For more information:
Plantech Control Systems
Cees de Groot, sales manager
T: (905) 562 7345
F: (905) 562-5958
M: (905) 658-4783
cees.degroot@plantech.ca
www.plantech.ca