Logitec Plus recently installed a substrate mixing line at Ball Zhuomei flower nursery in Shanghai, China, with labor saving and error elimination as the most important improvements. Where previously there was a worker at each individual seed line and tray transplanter to first make a mixture and deliver it by wheelbarrow, now everything runs fully automatically via one line.
The peat and coco is supplied in pressed blocks. Due to the compactness of these products, transport costs are reduced. The two big-bale dosage bunkers DB40 bring the volume of the peat back to the original, usable volume. The Coco Mill CM200 brings the pressed 5 kg coco blocks back to the original volume by adding water to the blocks in the rotating mill without applying force to the blocks or grinding them. This preserves the structure and thus the volume. The mixing line then starts working. The composition is entered into the computer once. A composition can consist of different parts: raw materials (coco, two types of peat) perlite, fertilizer and other additives.
The mixing line makes as much substrate as is required. The incoming flow of products is equal to the outgoing. And there is no need for stocks. Mark van der Zande, Logitec Plus: "That is an advantage. Because it is mixed on site, just before sowing and/or potting, it is better timing for fertilizer to become active, for example. It produces more uniform plants. If the substrate is supplied ready-made, you never know which processes have already been set in motion. And that is not the intention. It can be better timed now."
The mixing line is part of the production section of the company. Forklifts drive up and down, as well as plant trolleys. That is why all the conveyor belts of the line are installed at 4 meters above the floor. Mark: "The result is that work can be done efficiently and cleanly."
Logitec Plus sent 6-7 containers to Shanghai. Everything was installed within two weeks. Mark: "That is the advantage of our production method. We want as little as possible to disrupt the process and to prevent unnecessary costs for customers.”
Software
Sensors are mounted on the seed lines and tray transplanters. These sensors indicate whether substrate is needed for this specific line. The mixing line is controlled by these sensors. So work is done continuously without batches. Mixing is done exactly according to what is needed. Incidentally, also with this project 30 m3 can be mixed per hour. Logitec Plus can deliver these lines in a range of 15 - 90 m3 per hour and, if so desired, even larger.
The mixing line has a built-in touchscreen computer. This saves all previously made compositions, so that the settings do not have to be adjusted every time. One push of the button is sufficient.
Logitec Plus BV
Energieweg 61
Alphen aan den Rijn
The Netherlands
Mark van der Zande
+31 (0) 71 341 3919
E: mvdz@logitecplus.com
www.logitecplus.com
Chinese partner:
Shanghai Nong Sheng Modern Agri–Tech Company Ltd.
8888 Xiayan Road, Zhuqiao Town, Pudong New District
201323 Shanghai, China
Mr. Fang Xianguo
Tel. +86-(0)-21 6800 6089
E: fang@shnongsheng.com
www.shnongsheng.com