In the cut flower industry the need to automate labor-intensive tasks is increasing. To meet this need, the companies Jamafa and DERO decided to join forces and therefore combining specialized knowledge of cut flower processing with the know how and of industrial robots. Their joint mission? Making the processing of cut flowers hands free with the help of industrial robots.
Maro Dedel (left) van DERO GROEP and Karel van Hattum van JAMAFA next to the first FlowerCatcher at Mopabloem.
Due to the increasing scarcity of good labour in the cut flower industry, there is a rising need to automate labor-intensive tasks. The application of industrial robots can offer a solution. Robots can be used flexible for repetitive tasks, they are immune to diseases, deliver stable quality and have the ability to work 24/7.
Cut flower industry
Despite the rise of robots in many different industries, in the cut flower industry they are hardly being used. And Jamafa is eager to change it.
"Within the sector, we see a increasing need for the automation of manual labor," says Karel van Hattum of Jamafa Machinery. "Until recently, labor was readily available and relatively cheap, but times are changing rapidly. We have therefore been working for years on automation in flower processing."
Processing of single stems have been the missing link. We noticed that the complexity required a specialized and flexible solution and this is how we came up with industrial robots. In order to realize this ambition, we started to look for a partner with knowledge of the robot technology. We got in touch with DERO GROUP, a company that was already present in the flower industry with the FlowerCatcher. A perfect match; we have the knowledge of flower processing and they the knowledge of robots."
In recent years, Jamafa Machinery has developed a number of innovative concepts that will be rolled out in the market in the coming period.
Industrial robots
On top of the challenge of finding the right people, also the cost of labor and the increasingly stricter regulations concerning the working environment are important reasons why robots are increasingly being chosen. Maro Dedel, CEO and founder of DERO GROUP, knows all about it. Over the past 35 years, he witnessed with his own eyes the rise of the robots from scratch in the Netherlands. "Despite the great advance of industrial robots, there are still many industries where creativity, drive and expertise are needed for the right solutions. The flower processing industry is such a sector. We therefore look forward to working with Jamafa on making cut flower handling hands-free."
Video FlowerCatcher
Growing market
Automation is one of the fasts growing markets worldwide. At the end of 2020, more than 2.7 million industrial robots were active in the production stage worldwide, according to data from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). 'The amount of industrial robots operating in factories is the highest ever,' says Milton Guerry, President of the IFR. Over a five-year period (2014-2019), this represents a global growth rate of 85%. Robots are finding their way into all industries, especially where manual labor is heavy and repetitive. The cut flower industry actually stayed behind until now, because it requires very specialized knowledge. As Jamafa has been active in this industry for over 90 years, this will now change.
For more information:
Jamafa Machinery
Email: sales@jamafa.com
Grathemerweg 78
6037 RP Kelpen-Oler
www.jamafa.com
DERO GROEP 
Luzernestraat 77
2153 GM Nieuw-Vennep
www.dero-groep.nl