Odin wanted to learn a little bit about Mark’s experience with the control system, any benefits he’s found with using a Priva controller, and why he chose the system in the first place.
What made you choose the Priva Compass controller and what were your expectations?
Nothing else could compete with it, I couldn’t find anything else that would suit my needs for a controller and that would connect to all the sensors, it does everything I needed it to do. It controls all my climate settings, measures light levels, and keeps my heating my heating accurate and efficient.
And what have you found the results been like?
Ah fantastic! If you speak to any of our staff members who use the software, they like it a lot. They’re still learning but it’s all fun and it’s easy to use plus powerplants is always there to help us and support us.
Have you found any benefits that you can potentially relate to using some more automation? How do your current results compare to before the Priva compass was installed?
We’ve changed from a fogging system to a misting system, previously the fogging was only controlled based on the humidity. Other systems were controlled by a timer, now we can have everything controlled by computer and it has saved us heaps of water and we’ve seen heaps of other benefits. Moisture control is much more accurate as well as the consistency in the climate and therefore the strike rate quality of seedlings has greatly improved.
If your saving water are you potentially seeing less issues with damping-off?
Ah heaps less damping off issues, it's working really well!
So you’re getting better strike rates and performance and seeing noticeable and significant improvements. You can be more efficient with your propagation and putting less labour into sticking and setting up the crop because you're getting a better return out of that time put in.
How did you find the process of dealing with Powerplants from us discussing it initially, to the ordering process, the timelines, and commissioning?
It was good, everything went smoothly. Paul did all the commissioning and he was really easy to work with. We worked together and got it all sorted. I showed him what we wanted and how we wanted it installed, then he just went away and got it all set up. And he gave us some good training.
Javo Plus potting machine
Greenstock also purchased a Javo plus potting machine from Powerplants, the below questions reference their new machine:
What made you choose this machine and why did you choose to deal with Powerplants?
The primary reason we decided to go with a Javo machine is that it was available in stainless steel, which does not rust. The longevity of the machine was a very important part in making our decision. The belt-driven soil elevator is also a significant factor, on other machines we have had in the past that used chain elevators, chains were needing to be replaced regularly and the wear on that system has follow on effects not to mention the downtime. We expect a significantly better life and less wear out of Javo’s belt-driven soil elevator.
Were there any specific features of the machine that stood out?
The pot dispenser, working well with recycled pots was one of the main things we wanted it to do. The double jaw pneumatic dispenser is excellent at separating pots that are more stuck together.
Have you found that using some automation machinery has made operations more labour efficient?
Yes certainly, we will definitely be adding more machinery in the future to increase our efficiency and we definitely see the benefit of adding more automation and labour-saving machinery to our facility.
Now that we have looked at some of the equipment Powerplants has supplied to you, we also wanted to ask about Greenstock and the history of the business.
How have you progressed from your previous site to this site? Can you explain a little bit about the company?
Greenstock is about 10 years old, but we have been in the industry for about 40 years. In 2009 we changed the company name from Green Thumb to Greenstock. Back then we had 4 sites, we have now merged the old 4 sites into 2 new sites. We have doubled or tripled our capacity and have nearly filled our new sites. It’s amazing how much we have grown and how much area we have filled and there is still so much demand in the industry we can’t fill the demand.
We currently have about 170 staff members
Considering the work you’ve done with Powerplants already, would you recommend us to others? And are you happy to work with us again?
Yes definitely.
For more information:
Powerplants
03 8795 7750
sales@powerplants.com.au
www.powerplants.com.au