On June 7, Opti-flor opened its newest location: Opti-flor Design. For the cultivation of their Phalaenopsis, they have chosen WPS' automation solutions. The WPS system is equipped with a picking position, stick stacking stations, camera box, sorting buffer and tray buffer.
Together, Opti-flor and WPS have developed the most optimal solution that suits the desired way of working and that provides more peace and quiet and overview. “The execution went well thanks to the good cooperation with Opti-flor”, says Jan Moekestorm, project leader at WPS.
How the system works
From the greenhouse, containers with plants will come in. All plants are picked and go via the stick sticking stations to the camera system. After the camera assessment, the variety, the expected delivery date, the number of branches and the height class of each plant are known. Based on the assessment, plants are sorted and stored in the sorting buffer.
After sorting, plants can be called to the positions where the trays are filled. A full tray with all the identical stoked plants then goes back into the greenhouse on a container in order to bloom. The flowering plants return from the greenhouse after a few weeks and are collected in a special area. From here the plants go past the watering unit and the leaf gloss unit to the tables and tray buffers, from where the trays are packed and transported.
The operation of the WPS delivery system is controlled by the WPS Order Control Software.
Partnership
Guido Zwarts, project leader of Opti-flor, explains the choice for WPS: "Opti-flor likes to work together with its own suppliers. These are companies that know our company, know what we want, know where we want to go and WPS is one of them. WPS knows what is already here in terms of technology, so that we can build on it, but also where we can improve things compared to the previous installations. So with a long relationship with each other, you get better and better.”
Digna van Zanten, director of WPS: "We are proud that we were able to realise this for a fine company like Opti-flor. We worked intensively together to design and realise a suitable system. And with results! We look forward to further cooperation in the future."
